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THE 



PHILOSOPHY 



HUMAN NATURE, 



IN ITS 



PHYSICAL, INTELLECTUAL, 



MORAL RELATIONS; 



WITH AN ATTEMPT TO DEMONSTRATE THE ORDER OF 
PROVIDENCE IN THE THREE-FOLD CON- 
STITUTION OF OUR BEING. 



BY 

f 

HENRY M'CORMAC, M.D. 



LONDON: 

LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN. 

1837. 



<&: 



K* N 



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Belfast:— Printed by James Bowden, High-street. 



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PREFACE 



The following Work is an attempt to lay down the more 
important conditions of our being; to trace their various re- 
lations, the laws which regulate them, and their first origin. 
Consciousness has been considered with reference to its three 
grand elements, and every thing has been enumerated that 
was calculated to throw any light on its complicated and most 
interesting phenomena. It appeared self-evident that certain 
physical, moral, and intellectual states, were more conducive 
to virtue and happiness than others ; that there was a close 
connexion between them, and that the whole might be suc- 
cessively elucidated, beginning with the most elementary, and 
ending with the most complex. It likewise seemed that to 
execute this ; to shew the mutual dependance of these states, 
and the necessity of improving each, to secure the joint per- 
fection of all, might be of some service to the cause of 
humanity: that religion and morality might be promoted 
by demonstrating, independent of other sanctions and con- 
siderations, that there was a natural bond of obligation tend- 
ing to the maintenance of our well-being, which could not be 
infringed without the certain contingency of misery, evil, and 
disease. Our position on earth — our expectations here and 
hereafter, and the detail of our various duties, are fully ade- 
quate to occupy the attention of the most zealous inquirer. 
It has not been thought requisite to attempt any formal de- 
monstration of the being of a God, but it was conceived im- 
peratively so, to enlarge on his boundless wisdom and power, 
and to dwell upon every practicable illustration of his Divine 
Providence. A brief outline of the physical condition of man 
has been given, while the ne< essity of elevating it, in order 



IV PREFACE. 

to secure the general advancement, has been urged. But 
more especially, the supremacy of the moral law — the con- 
nexion which we thereby maintain with the Deity and with 
another form of existence, and the not to be evaded obliga- 
tion under which we labour to obey it, have been set forth. 
This has been shewn to be the corner-stone of human excel- 
lence ; that, before which, mere intellect sinks into insignifi- 
cance, and without which, talent, rank, or power, is an idle 
dream. 

In taking up topics upon which human ingenuity may well 
exhaust its utmost powers, a wide field of investigation has 
been entered into. Man's origin, capacity, and destination, 
are problems among the most important that can engage his 
attention. They have been variously solved, and it is not 
perhaps, too much to say, that in this world at least, they will 
never be wholly cleared up. Still, in the waste of conflicting 
opinions, there are abiding principles of truth and right, re- 
posing on the foundations of our common nature, which it is 
desirable to bring under one head. That this has been here 
accomplished, is not for a moment asserted, but it is at least 
allowable, to make the attempt. If no important truths are 
added, it is hoped that few are omitted ; while, if what has 
been realized however imperfectly, tend in any degree to 
fulfil the vital objects in view, the writer's labour will not 
prove in vain. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 
HUMAN NATURE IN ITS PHYSICAL RELATIONS. 



Page 
Introduction ------ l 

Chap. I On the first Laws of Consciousness - - 9 

I. Sensation, 9— II. Vision, 10— III. Hearing, 14— IV. Smell, 
15— V. Taste, 15— VI. Touch, 16. 

Chap. II. — On Painful, Pleasurable, and Indifferent Sensations 17 
I. Indifferent Sensations, 17 — II. Painful Sensations, 18 — 
III. Pleasurable Sensations, 18. 

Chap. Ill On Instinct - - - - - 20 

Chap. IV On the Relations of the Human Frame with the 

Material World ------ 22 

1. On our Physical Relations at large, 22. I. Relations of the 
Senses, 22 — II. Physical Relations a Source of Mental De- 
velopment, 24 — III. Relations as Regards Gravity, 25 — IV. 
Relations of the Digestive and other Organs, 25. 2. Human 
Wants lay the Foundation of Human Excellence. — War, 26. 
3. Adaptations of Outward Objects to our Organization, 28. 
I. Adaptations of Air, 28 — II. Adaptations of Water, 30 — 
III. Adaptations of Minerals, 32 — IV. Adaptations of Ani- 
mal Substances, 34 — V. Adaptations of Vegetable Substan- 
ces, 35. 

Chap. V. — On Man's Physical Relations and Mutual Dependance 40 

Chap. VI. — Relations of Man with the Inferior Animals - 42 

Chap. VII. — On the Invariable Order of Sensation - 48 

Chap. VIII. — On the Organization of Man and Brutes - 51 

1. General Remarks, 51. I. Organs of Nutrition, Reproduc- 



VI INDEX. 

Page 
tion, and Relation, 51 — II. Organic Energy Derived from the 
Nerves, 53. 2. Organization not the Source of Thought, 54. 

Chap. IX. — On Organic Causation - - - 57 

1. Physiology Denned, 57. I. Laws of Nature Invariable, 57 
— II. Disease Averted by attending to the Laws of our Or- 
ganization, 59. 2. Invariable Succession of the Phenomena 
which Surround us, 60. I. On the Contingency of Events, 61. 
3. On Final and Efficient Causes, as regards the Organiza- 
tion, 62. 

Chap. X On the Organic Laws, and the Necesssity of Obey- 
ing them -._.._ 64 
1. Premature Destruction from Infringement of the Organic 
Laws, 64. 2. On the Influence of Repetition, 65. I. Ne- 
cessity of Avoiding Extremes, 65 — II. On Exercise, 66 — III. 
On Excess, 67 — IV. On Cleanliness, 69 — V. Influence of 
Habit, 69 — VI. Conformity Facilitated by Correct Feelings 
and Ideas, 70. 

Chap. XI On the Influence of Circumstances on Human Or- 
ganization - - - - - - -71 

1. Circumstances Productive of Health and Disease ; Heredi- 
tary Influence, 71. I. Training, 73 — II. Heat, Cold, Mois- 
ture, Food, and Climate, 75 — III. Disease, 77 — IV. Mental 
Disease 79. 2. Legislative and Individual Influence, 80. I. 
Employment, 81— II. War, 82— III. Emigration, 83. 3. Re- 
ciprocal Influence of Human Beings, 85. I. Superstition, 86 
—II. Capital Punishments, 87— III. War, 89— IV. Duelling, 
92— V. Murder, 92— VI. Asceticism: Suicide, 93— VII. 
Slavery, 94. 4. Influence of Literature, Science, and Art, 96. 
5. Influence of Mind on Body, 97. 

Chap. XII. — On the Adaptations of the Human Frame; its 
Unceasing Mutations, and the Argument thereby derived, for 
the Separate Nature of the Human Soul; also, on Organic 
Decay and Death - 99 

Chap. XIII. — On the Best Means of Securing the Physical 
Well-being of Mankind - - - - - 105 

1. Physical Education, 105. I. Regulation of Atmospheric 
Vicissitudes, 106—11. Exercise, 107. 2. Measures of Hy- 
giene, 108. 3. Supply of Physical Wants, 109. I. Sources 
of Human Destitution, 111 — II. On Competition, 113 — III. 
On the Instrument of Exchange, 114 — IV. On National 
Debts, 144— V. Occupation of the Soil, 116— VI. On the 
Nature of Capital, 117. 4. Means of Relief, 117. I. Ex- 
tension of Commerce and Manufactures, 118 — II. Diminu- 
tion of Taxation, 119 — III. General Remarks; Reward of 
Labour too Small, 121 — IV. On Community of Property, 122 

V. Existing Arrangements Defective, 124 — VI. Labour 

Banks; Better Regulation, and Higher Reward of Labour, 125. 

Chap. XIV.— On the Physical Perfectibility and Improvement 
of Mankind „----- 128 



INDEX. Vll 



PART II. 



HUMAN NATURE IN ITS INTELLECTUAL RELATIONS. 

Page 
Chap. XV. — On the Mind, and on the Origin aud Nature of 
our Ideas and Faculties - - - - - 1 33 

1. The Mind, its Seat and Nature; General Remarks; Origin 
of Ideas, 133. I. Idea of Space, 135 — II. Ideas of Vision, 
136— III. Ideas of Hearing, 136— IV. Ideas of Smell and 
Taste, 137— V. Ideas of Touch, 138— VI. Ideaof Time, 139— 
VII. On Innate Ideas, 140. 2. On Association and its Laws, 
141. 3. On Complex Ideas, 145. 4. Abstraction, Generali- 
zation, and Classification, 149. 5. Induction, 151. 6. On 
the Origin of Language, 152. 7. On Active and Passive 
States of the Mind, 154. 8. Reason, Judgment, and Reflec- 
tion, 155. 9. Imagination, 157. 10. Memory, 159, 11. 
Futurity and Prescience, 160. 12. Motive, 162. 13. Will, 
163. 14. Belief, 166. 15. Identity, 172. 

Chap. XVI. — On the Relations and Adaptations of the Human 

Mind 174 

1. General Remarks, 174. I. Relations of Man with Man, 
176 — II. Relations with the Phenomenal world, 181 — III. 
Relations with the Deity, 182. 

Chap. XVII. — On the Primary Equality or Inequality, and on 
the Peculiar Tendencies of the Human Intellect - - 186 

Chap. XVIII. — On Language, Science, and Art, and on the best 
Means of Acquiring a Knowledge of them - . 191 

1. General Remarks on Language, 191. I. On the Acquisi- 
tion of the Mother Tongue, 195 — II. On the Acquisition of 
Dead Languages, 199 — III. On the Acquisition of Modern 
Languages, 203. 2. On the Acquisition of Science, 203. 

3. On the Acquisition of Art, 206. I. Music, 207— II. 
Painting, Statuary, and Architecture, 211 — III. Poetry, 213. 

4. On Adult Exertion, 216. 1. On the Education of Facts, 
217 — II. On the Subordination of Mental Activity to Utility, 
219. 

Chap. XIX. — On the Influence of Circumstances on the De- 
velopment of the Mind - 220 

1. General Remarks: Internal Circumstances, 220. I. Phy- 
sical Constitution, 221 — II. Mental and Moral Energy, 223. 

2. External Circumstances, 225. I. Government, 226 — II. 
Religion, 228— III. Literature, Science, and Art, 230— IV. 
The Passions, 232— V. Human Wants, 232— VI. Commerce, 
236— VII. Family and National Influence, 237— VIII. Rank, 
240—IX. Habits, 241— X. Climate, 242—XI. Age, 244— 
XII. Sex, 246. 

Chap. XX — On the Physiology of the Human Mind - 248 

1. Introductory Remarks ; Materialism, 248. 2. Liberty and 



Vlll INDEX. 

Page 
Necessity, 251. 3. The Evils of Ignorance and the Advantages 
of Knowledge, as Regards the Physiology of the Human Mind, 
252. 4. On Sleep, 261. 5. On Insanity, 264. 

Chap. XXI — On the Influence of the Mind on the Body, and 
on the Feelings -_-_._ 267 

I. Influence of Mind on the Body, 267 — II. Influence of Mind 
on the Feelings, 270. 

Chap. XXII. — On the Regulation of the Intellect with a View 
to our Greatest Advantage and that of Others - - 272 

1. General Remarks ; the Acquisition of Knowledge, 272. 
I. The Diffusion of Knowledge, 274. 2. The Generation of 
Intellectual Energy, 281. 3. Credulity and Scepticism, 283. 
4. Value and Accessibility of Mental Pleasures and Pursuits, 
286. 5. The Necessity of a Sense of Accountability, 288. 
6. Importance of Habit, 290. 7. On the Proper Balance of 
the Mind, 291. 

Chap. XXIII. — On the Best Means of Improving the Mind - 295 
I. Utility of Education, 296— II. Self-instruction, 297— III. 
Operation of Governments, 298 — IV. Individual Effort, 300 
— V. Cultivation of Science, Nature, and Art, 301 — VI. Re- 
gulation of the Passions, and Removal of Prejudice, 304. 

Chap. XXIV. — On the Progressive Perfectibility of the Human 
Mind 307 

Chap. XXV. — On Death, and on our Condition Hereafter, 
Viewed in Reference to the Intellect - 312 



PART III. 

HUMAN NATURE IN ITS MORAL RELATIONS. 

Chap. XXVI. — On the Feelings, Passions, Affections, Moral 

Judgments, and their Origin - - - . 321 I 

1. General Remarks: Feelings of Pleasure and Pain derived 
in the First Instance, from Organic Sources: Inferences, 321. 

2. The Appetites: Pleasures and Pains of Sense are Re- 
membered : Not Capable of Indefinite Prolongation, 325. 3. 
Feelings Variously Associated : Disinterestedness : Growth 
and Progress of the Feelings, 329. I. Love of Offspring, 333 
—II. Filial Love, 335— III. Fraternal Love, 336— IV. The 
Love of Sex, 337— V. Friendship, 340— VI. Love of Truth, 
342— VII. Love of God, 344— VIII. General Reflections on 
the Affections: Virtue, what? 348. 4. Painful Feelings; 
Utility of Pain; Disinterested Grief, 351. I. Sorrow and 
Grief, 354— II. Fear, 355— III. Repentance, 357— IV. Dis- 
appointment, 360— V. Mental Weariness, 363— VI. Painful 
and Pleasing Recollections and Anticipations, 365 — VII. Pain 
a Means, but never an End, 367. 5. Mixed Feelings, 368. 



INDEX. IX 

Page 
I. Union of Pleasure with Pain: Melancholy, 370. 6. On 
the Inferior Passions and their Origin, 372. I. Remorse, 377 
—II. Envy, 379— III. Contempt, 38.1— IV. Resentment, 382 
—V. Revenge, 383— VI. Pride, 384. 7. General Considera- 
tions on the Inferior Passions, 385. I. Bloodthirstiness, 
Cruelty, and Brutality, 386 — II. Fanaticism, Bigotry, and 
Superstition, 388 — III. Disinterested Malevolence, 390. 8. 
Apathy: Absence of all Feeling: Absence of the Better 
Feelings, 393. 9. Mixed qualities ; General Considerations 
on the Passions, 397. 

Chap. XXVII. — On the MoralJudgment — Conscience — Theory 
of Virtue, and Language of Passion - 400 

1. On Conscience or the MoralJudgment, 400. 2. On Virtue 
and Vice, 408. 3. Case in which Virtue is Appreciated and 
Vice Chosen, 418. 4. On the Language of Passion, 419. 

Chap. XXVIII On the Influence of Circumstances on the De- 
velopment of the Passions, Feelings, and Moral Principles 421 
1. General Remarks; the Evolution of the Moral Principles 
Depends Partly on Others, and Partly on Ourselves, 421. I. 
Influence of Governments, 426 — II. Influence of Education, 
428 — III. Influence of Human Life — of Moral Energy, 432. 

Chap. XXIX.— The Physiology of the Mind as Regards the 

Affections, Passions, Feelings, and Moral Judgments - 436 

1. Fundamental Conditions of Consciousness, 436. I. No 
Material Organ for the Exercise of the Feelings, 436 — II. 
Feelings and Ideas not called up with Equal Facility, 438 — 
III. On the Influence of Association, 442 — IV. On Sympathy, 
443— V. On the Exercise of the Feelings, 445— VI. The 
Feelings and Affections Regulated by Immutable Laws, 447 
—VII. Feelings during Sleep, 448— VIII. On Double or \ 
Divided Consciousness, 449 — IX. Moral Insanity, 450 — X. 
Transference, 452. — XL On the Succession of Ideas and Feel- 
ings, 455 — XII. Cannot Appropriate the Affections and Emo- 
tions of Others without Archetypes in Ourselves, 456— XIII. 
Feelings and Affections sometimes Remain, when the Con- 
victions Connected with them have Passed away, 457 — XIV. 
Philosophical Childhood, 459 — XV. On the Association of 
Pleasurable Feelings with Acts of Self-denial and Forbearance, 
460— XVI. The Growth of the Affections and the Practice 
of Morality, not Contingent on a Knowledge merely, of their 
Theory and Origin, 461 — XVII. Feeling and Passion more 
" Extensively Diffused than what is Supposed, 462 — XVIII. — 
Beneficence towards Others, the Source of Superior Affec- 
tions, and Injuries, of Inferior, 464 — XIX. Influence of Age 
on the Feelings, 464— XX. Utility of the Passions, 466. 

Chap. XXX. — On the Influence of the Heart on the Mind and 
Frame, and on Itself - - - - - 467 

Chap. XXXI. — On the Regulation of the Affections, Feelings, 
and Moral Conduct, with a View to Secure our Own Best In- 
terests and those of Others - 478 



X INDEX. 

Page 
1. Our Duty to Ourselves, 478. I. Duties, as Regards the 
Body, 478—11. Duties, as Regards the Mind, 479— III. Duties, 
as Regards the Heart, 480. 2. Our Duty to Others, 500. 
3. Our Duty to the Deity, 514. 

Chap. XXXII. — On the Best Means of Cultivating the Feelings 
and Affections, as well as of Securing and Perfecting the Exer- 
cise of the Moral Powers ----- 532 
I. Specific Measures Necessary for Cultivating the Feelings 
and Moral Powers, 532—11. The Children of Every Class 
should be Trained to Moral Excellence, 535 — III. Influence 
of Public Opinion with Regard to the Improvement of Society, 
536 — IV. Injurious Regulations with Regard to Property, 
539 — V. Influence of Superior Moral Communion, 540. 

Chap. XXXIII— On the Perfectibility of the Heart and Moral 
Powers Here and Hereafter - 543 

Chap. XXXIV— On Our Condition Hereafter - - 553 



THE PHILOSOPHY 

OF HUMAN NATURE 



INTRODUCTION 



The science of man is the most important, 
and the study of his nature the most interesting, 
of all the pursuits to which he can addict himself. 
It must be attended to, not in one particular, but 
in all; not only with regard to the intellect, but 
to the body, and not only in relation to these, but 
to the feelings and affections. They must be 
studied and appreciated, at once severally and col- 
lectively. Improvements in the analysis of the 
1 Cerent conditions of the human mind, and the 
r^v^ival of neglected truths, place the connexion 
here urged in a striking light. This is exempli- 
fied in the recent progress of physical science, 
which confirms views previously supposed to rest 
on grounds purely metaphysical. 



A INTRODUCTION. 

The necessity of studying our nature in its 
three-fold division, reposes on a variety of parti- 
culars. For years, the doctrine of innate ideas 
and realism, which is but a modification of it, ex- 
cited a warm controversy. The origin of the 
dispute which is probably coeval with speculation 
itself, seems lost in the night of time. All the 
ideas which we are capable of experiencing, flow 
in the first instance from sensation ; a truth of 
great importance in education, as well as in lay- 
ing a foundation for the argument from analogy, 
in favour of the similar origin of the affections, 
feelings and moral judgments. If our ideas and 
feelings arise from sensation, and if our various 
mental and moral states be a mean result of edu- 
cation, the circumstances in which we are placed, 
and our personal efforts, it yields an enormous 
scope to the legislator and the philanthropist. 
The proposition however, is susceptible of rigo- 
rous demonstration. If our knowledge — if our 
qualities whether for good or for ill, are in no 
case inborn, it necessarily follows, not only that 
all are capable of superior intellectual and moral 
culture, but that all have an unequivocal right to 
receive it. 

I experience an unflinching confidence in the 
fulfilment of the superior destinies of our race. 
It is a long-cherished conviction, and one which 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

I shall carry to the grave. God is just and mer- 
ciful : he has implanted capabilities that can never 
be exhausted. The grievous errors which mark 
our career, must be ascribed to defective train- 
ing, deteriorating circumstances, and insufficient 
personal exertion. Even the wisest and best 
probably, afford but an imperfect criterion of 
what, under happier auspices, all might become. 
At birth, we are innocent, and with proper man- 
agement, might remain so through life. What a 
glorious prospect does it not unfold to mankind, 
when they shall acquire wisdom enough to apply 
the principle to the full extent. There need 
then, be no ignorance, no want of feeling and no 
crime ; and why, but because all shall be culti- 
vated, and because it is impossible for such un- 
happy results to accrue, when the causes which 
lead to them are lopped away for ever. All 
other public measures dwindle into insignificance, 
when contrasted with the efficacy of universal 
training. In ten short years, the machinery 
of instruction might be brought into operation, 
and a moral revolution gradually accomplished. 
There are too many jarring interests and con- 
flicting opinions however, as well as too low an 
estimate of the dignity of human nature, to per- 
mit a provision of such boundless utility to be 
carried into effect. Even so then, until the 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

world consent to work this great good, so long 
shall desolation, and sin, and misery, prevail. It 
is not intellectual cultivation alone, that will do 
the work; the feelings, affections and moral 
principles must be developed, while the physical 
condition of the community at large, must be ele- 
vated. We have abundant facilities for securing 
happiness, but we are so constituted, that this 
cannot be accomplished unless by the joint exer- 
tion of all our faculties, and by the successful 
elimination of the better qualities of our nature. 
Ignorance, indolence, and immorality, never have 
reaped and never will reap, the reward of know- 
ledge and virtuous energy, It is not animal 
comfort to which we must aspire, nor yet intel- 
lectual superiority, nor even, best and highest 
though it be, moral and religious excellence, but 
all united. Any thing short of this, is incompa- 
tible with the well-being of the whole man and 
with the assumption on his part, of that position 
on earth which he has been made capable of en- 
joying. Let existing obstacles however, be what 
they may, the time must work round when they 
will fade into nothing, and when the human race 
shall assert with one voice, their indefeasible 
rights never to be deprived of them again. 
Step by step, mankind approach a consummation 
of virtue, knowledge and happiness, which the 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

world has not yet seen. We might be faint- 
hearted indeed, were this mighty change to de- 
volve on human agency alone ; but the path has 
been marked out by superior skill, and the ope- 
ration of circumstances under the controul of an 
all-directing Providence, must finally lead us to 
the happy goal. 

Though I have come in contact with the dark 
side, I have also had abundant opportunities for 
acknowledging the kindness of my fellows, and 
for rejoicing in my community with the great 
family of mankind. It is a pleasure to reflect that 
unceasing good offices are every where going on, 
and that thousands as well as myself, have borne 
unequivocal testimony to the reception of unpur- 
chased, and unless by gratitude, unrequited kind- 
ness. It makes the heart within, to sing for 
gladness, to think of all these things, as well as 
of the generous acts and deliberate sacrifices, of 
which the earth is the theatre. The capabilities, 
the cultivation of which, has produced these bene- 
ficial results in a portion of mankind, might also 
lead to them in the whole. We cannot perhaps, 
hope to finish our career without suffering; but 
there can be no lasting unhappiness without moral 
depravity, and of this there need be little in the 
world. The evils to which we are exposed, are 
intended to promote our well-being, and to in- 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

spire energy, fortitude, and entire submission to 
the Divine will. They have nothing in common 
with iniquity, though never so strenuously con- 
founded, and we could not escape the liability, 
without also losing the advantages of choice. 
Sickness, death, and the various casualties of life, 
unless in so far as they result from it, are widely 
remote from active and passive vice — from false- 
hood, ingratitude and all iniquity. We should 
oppose the latter, but it is our duty when they 
become inevitable, to submit to the former. The 
one may assail the good, the brave and the wise, 
but the other never can. It is impossible for the 
world to go back — the very generation of so much 
excellence, knowledge and virtue, affords peremp- 
tory evidence that humanity must advance. If 
these have been created out of nothing — from the 
dark and dreary void, what have we not a right 
to anticipate from the intellectual and moral 
agencies now at work ? There is indeed, every 
reason to exult over the prospects of our race, 
and to hope that mankind shall finally, and with- 
out the possibility of relapse, be able to overcome 
the obstacles that now beset their path. 

It is the duty of every lover of his species to 
strive on and on, since upon such under Provi- 
dence, the progress of humanity must devolve. 
The world may not thereby, be rendered supremely 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

wise and good, but assuredly, it will be made both 
wiser and better than it could otherwise become. 
It is incumbent upon us to aim at excellence, or 
we shall achieve no good. If we do not aspire 
to that which we have not reached, how will it 
be practicable for us to advance? There is no 
presumption so great, as that which sets bounds 
to the improvement of mankind ; we may under- 
rate, but we cannot over-rate it. With what pro- 
priety indeed, can we limit those who must ne- 
cessarily, be so much wiser and better than 
ourselves? The ignorant assuredly, are not to 
draw up rules for the wise ; nor those of an im- 
perfect condition of society, for those of a perfect. 
Even in our own time, applications before un- 
known, of physical science to human convenience 
have been witnessed ; and shall we suppose those 
of the mind in any degree less practicable ? Its 
powers in this respect, are infinitely greater than 
any which it is able to exert over the phenomena 
of matter, and still better calculated to promote 
human dignity and well-being. When the won- 
derful endowments with which we have been 
gifted, shall be duly appreciated, there is every 
reason to hope that our position in future ages 
as contrasted with the past, will seem little short 
of perfection itself. 



PART I. 

HUMAN NATURE IN ITS PHYSICAL RELATIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 

ON THE FIRST LAWS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 



I. Consciousness is that fundamental con- 
dition without which we could not exist. Its first 
forms are not remembered, or if so, are con- 
founded with more recent ones. It is the com- 
mon title of our sensations, feelings and ideas, 
and these include all the phenomena of our 
earthly existence. 

It is usual to say that sensations arise from the 
action of outward objects on our organs; it is 
evident however, that all we know of either, must 
be states of the mind. Thus colour is the result of 
a visual perception. It does not reside in the 
object, but in the organ; and this again, is a form 
of consciousness. Extension and resistance are 
names of muscular sensations, likewise mental 
conditions. United with the sensations arising 
in the cutaneous papillae, they constitute touch. 
When the undulations of the atmosphere impinge 



10 ON CONSCIOUSNESS. 

upon the ear, the sound is but a condition of that 
organ. Reflection teaches us, that although the 
cause of sensation lodges without, sensations them- 
selves, must be forms of consciousness. What this 
cause is, our faculties afford us no means of know- 
ing ; but it is obvious that the external cause and 
the inward vehicle, must be radically distinct. 

Sensations are the first forms of consciousness, 
and may be pleasurable, painful, or indifferent. 
When those of the last class are remembered, 
they constitute ideas and mental perceptions ; 
when the two former, they become the founda- 
tion of our emotions of pleasure and pain. Un- 
less sensations precede, ideas or emotions cannot 
follow. By this arrangement, a few primary or- 
ganic pleasures or pains, may be reflected over 
innumerable mental states in themselves devoid 
of either. A simple and truly wonderful origin 
for those varied conditions which sometimes glad- 
den and ennoble, and sometimes, degrade and 
render existence miserable. We cannot learn 
how sensation is effected, nor shall the process 
ever be laid bare. As to what the mind is in- 
trinsically, we cannot know. It is susceptible of 
certain modifications, which constitute not only 
all our knowledge, but the means of obtaining 
it. These bear the collective title of conscious- 
ness. The thing that is conscious, we call mind ; 
the thing that provokes the consciousness, we 
style outward object. 

II. All our senses are worthy of admiration, 
but there are advantages peculiar to each. They 



ON CONSCIOUSNESS. 11 

render us conversant with the phenomenal world, 
with our fellow men, and with the various crea- 
tures that tenant the earth ; but more especially, 
with the signs of God's existence and wonderful 
providence. Light connects us with objects at 
a distance; without its aid, we should be on a 
level with the insects whose knowledge is obtained 
through the medium of touch. Thus degraded, 
we might feel the heat of the sun, but could not 
tell its source ; and unable to perceive their light, 
we should be unaware of the existence of the 
stars. The glorious panorama of nature — the 
illuminated heaven with the glad aspect of earth, 
would be equally unknown : our intercourse with 
our species would be limited, and our support 
precarious. The importance of vision is so 
great, that all the superior, and most of the in- 
ferior animals, have been provided with it. A 
large proportion of our ideas owe their origin to 
this sense. Works of genius and the records of 
knowledge are addressed to it, and without it, 
could neither have existence nor utility. Colours 
are the source of many pleasures. Creation 
would be monotonous were light and shade the 
only distinctions, as is the case during the gloom 
of evening and the prevalence of snow. As it 
is, we have the hue of beauty ; the thousand 
aspects of bird and flower ; the gay tints of art, 
and in fine, the endless diversity of every thing 
that surrounds us. Colours are enhanced by 
combination and contrast, as in mosaics, and 
still more, in the variety of nature. How bril- 



12 ON CONSCIOUSNESS. 

liant is the aspect of beds of flowers? The 
splendour of the rainbow, no less than that of 
many living objects, fills us with admiration and 
delight. By night, the moon and stars provide 
us with their tinted and gentle radiance ; while 
meteors and other forms of the electric fluid, add 
their brilliancy. The very sea is full of splen- 
dour. Many insects and some plants even, emit 
light at night. It would be difficult to describe 
the flitting and glowing illumination of the firefly. 
We are enabled to multiply the pleasures arising 
from these sources, by transferring the hues of 
nature to the produce of our industry. We can 
thus preserve them for years ; and if the material 
be not very perishable, as in the canvass of the 
painter and the frescoed wall, they will often re- 
main uninjured for centuries. The paintings of 
the early masters, the decorations of Pompeii and 
of the Egyptian tombs, are of very ancient date. 
When the light so liberally bestowed by nature 
ceases, we supply its place by an artificial illumi- 
nation that perpetuates the lustrous colouring of 
the day. Thus comfort and convenience are 
promoted, while existence is multiplied, and light 
and life are imparted to what would otherwise 
come within the dreary dominions of darkness 
and night. How much is thereby added to human 
industry, to hours of study and social intercourse ? 
Yet contrivances even of earthly origin, must be 
referred to the only Giver of knowledge and 
power ; since without Him there could be no art, 
nor any science or skill. 



ON CONSCIOUSNESS. 13 

How well adapted is the organ of vision to con- 
vey expression ? How speaking is the eye of in- 
tellect ; how powerfully does it reflect the impulse 
of every passion — of love, of hatred and of scorn ? 
Yet how vacant is the eye of apathy and igno- 
rance ; but above all, how dull and unmeaning is 
the eye of the dead? There is no limit to the 
impulses which this organ conveys from the soul, 
and none to those which it can bring back. The 
language of the eye includes a host of ideas and 
feelings innumerable: how poor would speech 
become without its aid; how vast its addition to 
human intercourse? Does it not yield an ex- 
pression of friendship, love, parental affection, 
filial reverence, mute obedience, exultation, curi- 
osity, heroic daring, ardent hope and devout sub- 
mission, to which no tongue could give utterance? 
Such copious access to God's creation and the 
face of human kind, yields scope for boundless 
gratitude. For how desolate is the darkness of 
the poor blind, who can never hope to look abroad, 
till the great veil is lifted up that sunders life from 
immortality ? 

By means of conventional marks, we have the 
power of referring at pleasure, to the records of 
human genius and knowledge ; thereby adding 
to our stores, and perpetuating the better feelings 
of our nature. How boundless the field when 
men shall learn to avail themselves of it, and how 
numerous the advantages which we have already 
derived — all by means of the eye ? Without 
this organ there could neither have been art nor 



14 ON CONSCIOUSNESS. 

artist, or any written evidence of human acquire- 
ments. When we reflect upon these diversified 
utilities, so boundless and so beneficent in their 
operation, our hearts expand with gratitude and 

III. The properties of vision are copious and 
wonderful, but how admirable is the sense of 
hearing? Anatomists have expatiated on the 
resources displayed in the structure of the ear 
and on its fitness for the purposes assigned to it. 
Were it not for this organ, man could not main- 
tain delicious converse with his kind ; he could 
not listen to the voice of tenderness or the com- 
munings of affection, nor could the accents of his 
offspring vibrate through his heart. Eloquence 
would be mute, and the cheerful intercourse of 
humanity would cease. The thunder would re- 
sound unheard, and the sea would dash against 
the beaten shores in vain. The ample volume of 
the wind, whether in the raging tempest or 
the gentle zephyr, would pass unnoticed. The 
roar of the cataract, the rushing of the torrent, 
the murmur of the rivulet, the sighing of the trees, 
the song of the birds with all the fitful melody of na- 
ture, whether by night or by day, would have no 
existence for our kind. None of our organs are 
adapted for use simply, but for pleasure also ; and 
that not merely by direct sensation, but through 
the infinite avenues of association. We not only 
hear, but we also appreciate music — the most ele- 
vating of the pleasures of sense, and one that 
awakens in our hearts the most lively anticipations 



ON CONSCIOUSNESS. 15 

of futurity. Without hearing, social intercourse 
would be destitute of its greatest charm, and the 
orator, the moralist and the man of science, would 
lose their most efficient means of conveying in- 
struction and delight. When one feels these 
things, it awakens a profound conviction of wis- 
dom and goodness divine. 

IV. All the senses yield scope for contempla- 
tion, and not least so, that of smell. Like the 
rest, it may be looked upon as an organ of use 
and as one of pleasure ; as enabling us to select 
our food and to regale ourselves with delicious 
fragrance. It accompanies and heightens the 
appetite, while it animates and increases the plea- 
sures of the palate. The satisfaction which we 
derive from a charming portion of the vegetable 
world is enhanced by it. The aspect of the rose 
is not more sweet, than is the ineffable odour 
which we inhale from it ; and this is no less true 
of many other beautiful flowers, of which the 
blended fragrance on summer days, streams like 
incense up to heaven. Even the emanations of 
wild plants afford a pleasure, which is not the 
less vividly felt, because secretly and unosten- 
tatiously furnished by the hand of nature. The 
perfume does not always perish with the flower, 
for we can extract and enjoy its fragrance, when 
the source is no more. 

V. Without taste, it would be difficult to dis- 
criminate between proper and improper articles 
of food, while the pleasures thereby derived, would 
be lost. We are thus incited to provide for our 



16 ON CONSCIOUSNESS. 

sustenance, and though often abused, the stimu- 
lus accomplishes its purpose. How numerous 
are the social gratifications to which this sense 
contributes, and which otherwise could not be 
experienced? Thus physical wants are made 
subservient to the cultivation of our moral nature. 

VI. The variety involved in touch is mani- 
fold. In combination with muscular motion, it 
lays the foundation of the association which en- 
ables us as it were, to see extension. Probably, 
the perception of the interlimitation of colours 
by the retina, as well as the action of the 
muscles of the eye, assist in this. It is usual to 
restrict the sense of touch to the papillae of the 
lips, tongue, fingers, and surface, though not 
confined to these. The immediate pleasures of 
this sense, are not very numerous ; but by aiding 
in the formation of the visual perception of sen- 
sation, it adds immeasurably to the faculty of 
sight. Its utility as one of the safeguards of 
existence is very great. Sensitiveness to physi- 
cal injuries is nearly confined to the skin, as 
little pain is felt after the integuments are di- 
vided. This is an arrangement the scope of 
which is obvious. Our muscular efforts are guided 
by the united aid of sight and touch. The blind 
depend upon the latter at all times ; without it, 
we should find it impossible to use any tool or 
utensil with accuracy, while the arts would re- 
main in the rudest imperfection. 

From the foregoing it will appear that the 
senses are bound up together, mutually assisting 



ON SENSATION. 17 

and assisted ; that they are the sources of endless 
pleasures and of infinite applications of conve- 
nience and utility, and that they display in the 
most ample manner, power, wisdom, and good- 
ness, at once varied, wonderful and inexhaustible. 



CHAPTER II. 

ON PAINFUL, PLEASURABLE AND INDIFFERENT 
SENSATIONS. 



I. Sensations are painful, pleasurable or in- 
different ; the latter however, preponderate. 
Were it otherwise, it would incapacitate us from 
attending to our duties. Indifferent sensations 
are the leading agents of the business of life, and 
the basis of our intellectual attainments. We 
can call them forth at pleasure, and experience 
them to an extent, that does not come within the 
bounds of calculation. How very many take 
place during the acts of reading, writing or walk- 
ing; while we regard an extensive prospect, a 
numerous army, or the stars of heaven? The 
rapidity and the diversity of sensation are very 
great, particularly in the young. This provides 
for their instruction, and fulfils various useful 
ends. Each contraction of a child's muscles, 
and every effort of its tiny hands, yield further 
knowledge of outward objects, and lay the foun- 



18 ON SENSATION. 

dation of the indissoluble association between 
vision and the recollected perception of extension. 

II. Painful, are less numerous than pleasing 
sensations; nor are they inflicted unless to se- 
cure some countervailing advantage. Suffering 
or death would ensue, were we not to maintain 
the well-being of our frames. We pity those who 
perish midst ice and snow, but the union of intel- 
ligence with mutilated and frozen limbs, would be 
a greater evil. Alternate exertion and repose 
are pleasurable, but if either be carried to excess, 
mischief must arise. Liability to pain secures 
our existence, and we are thereby warned of 
danger, when our vigilance might otherwise slum- 
ber. Though an evil in itself, it is the indispen- 
sable condition of our being, and an indirect 
means of securing the goods of life. If sickness 
is attended with suffering, it is at once the evi- 
dence of its presence, and the incentive to its 
removal. We may deplore the ravages of dis- 
eases, but we must not forget that health and 
happiness are partly purchased by their contin- 
gency. Yet even here, that Providence which 
orders all things well, has secured an alleviation ; 
for when pain has reached a certain height, our 
consciousness of it ceases. In diseases of long 
duration, suffering is diminished; while in those 
that are acute, it rarely persists with intensity, 
after sufficient warning has been given. 

III. Pleasure arises from the performance of 
every function, and from the satisfaction of every 
appetite. Thus by attaching it to these, a pro- 



ON SENSATION. 19 

vision has been made for the discharge of our 
duties, and for securing our moral, no less than 
our corporal well-being. Sensation is the pri- 
mary form of consciousness and the origin of our 
knowledge. Its object is obvious, but its cause is 
unknown. Sensations accompany the mutations 
of our organs, and we are thereby led to connect 
the one with the other, but the process is inscru- 
table. We perceive very well, that a certain 
mechanism has been rendered essential, but why, 
we cannot say. We walk, we stand, we run, 
but we cannot tell how the will influences the 
muscles, or how the latter act. We believe it to 
be as natural that we should see with our eyes 
and hear with our ears, as that a stone should 
fall — and so it is ; but it is clear that we can give 
no more reason for one than the other. The 
first links of the chain which connects these phe- 
nomena, are hidden from our sight, but we know 
that they ascend to God. Doubtless, we might 
have been sent into the world with the same 
powers united to a different organization, but as 
it is, that with which we have been endowed, is 
made a part of the great system of instruction by 
which we are led to look from the creature to the 
Creator, and to witness in the result, the evidence 
of power divine. Without the manifestations of 
design so conspicuously displayed around, we 
could never have raised our souls to the concep- 
tion of Him by whom we are made and preserved, 
or attained to our existing happiness and intel- 
ligence. We learn sufficient to secure our well- 



20 ON INSTINCT. 

being, and if a greater insight into the secrets of 
nature had been necessary, it would doubtless 
have been imparted. 



CHAPTER III. 

ON INSTINCT. 



Man has not been provided with many in- 
stincts, but they are numerous in the inferior 
animals. In the former they are wholly organic. 
Animals for the most part, are short-lived ; their 
growth is more rapid than that of human beings, 
and they are more quickly required to fulfil the 
purposes of their creation. Without instinct 
therefore, it would be impossible for them to se- 
cure their preservation. The great majority 
arrive at maturity in a few years, and are then 
as well able to attend to their wants as at any 
after period. Little information is handed down 
to their offspring, nor do the latter require it, 
since instinct secures them against every contin- 
gency. We can modify the instincts of animals, 
and in some measure, create new ones. The 
puppy of the setting-dog will point as soon as it 
can walk, and the young of domestic animals are 
more amenable than wild ones of the same spe- 
cies. In other respects, the chicken just out of 
the shell will peck; the duck, the crocodile and 



ON INSTINCT. 21 

the turtle, under similar circumstances, will run 
to the water; while the calf will butt with its 
hornless head, and the serpent writhe and bite. 
Birds exhibit the same habits, sing the same 
song, and build nests of the same material, from 
immemorial time. Quadrupeds display simi- 
lar peculiarities, with varying sagacity. The 
newly-created insect will perform the elaborate 
task, and manifest the same apparent evidence of 
cunning and design, that were displayed from 
generation to generation, with the same deficiency 
of intellect, experience and instruction, by its 
predecessors. It is impossible indeed, to witness 
the actions of these minute creatures, evincing as 
they do, the application of means to ends, and 
that varying adaptation to circumstances, which 
in human beings would be indicative of mental 
culture, without emotions of silent wonder. 

Though we know not the nature of instinct, it 
is not more inscrutable than are other organic 
phenomena. Hunger, the instincts of reproduc- 
tion, muscular motion and breathing, originate 
in different organs; but there are a few, as the 
desire of sleep and rest, which have no specific 
locality. Of some processes we have no separate 
consciousness; among these are the circulation 
of the blood, innervation, nutrition, the re-inte- 
gration of injured portions, and the recovery of 
the functions and organization after disease. Some 
instincts as hunger, breathing, sleep and the love 
of warmth, come into the world with us ; others 
again, are not developed until the body has 



22 ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 

arrived at some degree of maturity. The agen- 
cies by which these phenomena are effected, lie 
buried in obscurity : we are able to skim the sur- 
face of things, but into their depths we cannot 
penetrate. Yet we see enough to satisfy us as to 
their admirable and all-sufficient tendencies, and 
more than enough to induce us to look with reve- 
rence to the great Contriver. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ON THE RELATIONS OF THE HUMAN FRAME WITH 
THE MATERIAL WORLD. 



1. The relations of our corporeal fabric are 
numerous and important : there is no particular 
that has not reference to things without. It would 
be impossible for beings much larger than man 
and of the same construction, to tenant the earth's 
surface: races of dwarfs on the other hand, are 
equally incompatible with existing arrangements. 
Not only are our physical relations regulated by 
the actual condition of the animal, the vegetable 
and the mineral worlds, but the latter are in per- 
fect accordance with the organization and wants 
of human beings. 

I. The sensibilities of the skin are graduated 
to the sun's heat ; those of the eye to the alterna- 
tions of light, and those of the ear to the undula- 



ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 23 

tions of the atmosphere. Gravity keeps us in 
contact with the soil, and with the aid of muscu- 
lar contraction, enables us to alter our position at 
pleasure. The admirable arrangement of the 
muscles permits the performance of acts of end- 
less utility. By means of these ready instruments 
of our volitions, we till the soil and cover it with 
the evidence of our industry. How excellent the 
structure of the human frame — what grace, beauty, 
strength and dignity, does it not display? The 
stature, how erect and towering ; the limbs, how 
supple, and formed for progression ; the pliable 
and well-knit joints; the ample basis of the feet, 
plumb beneath the frame, and the fingers fitted 
to so many diversified appliances. Then the 
mutual proximity of the organs of sense ; the pro- 
minence of all that is agreeable and attractive ; 
the concealment of every unavoidable defect; 
the multiplied resources for preserving life and 
well-being, and lastly, the unsparing profusion of 
all that tends to health, strength and usefulness. 
The hands alone, almost equal in importance the 
organs of speech: without them, the arts and 
sciences must have remained sterile and unculti- 
vated, and their beneficial reaction unknown; 
while the majestic edifice, the lofty ship, the glow- 
ing canvass, the pealing organ, the flowing gar- 
ment and the furrowed field, could not have been. 
We do not indeed owe reason to the hand, but 
the hand has been given to us because of our rea- 
son. What do we not derive from its admirable 
adaptations to our purposes? Without it, where 



24 ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 

would printing be, and writing, those reflections 
of the mind? Yet a single particular omitted, 
and the hand had not been what it is. Behold 
each finger with its nail, its varying length, its 
joints all bending inward, and its sensitive extre- 
mity — an organ in itself. Yet without the thumb, 
the hand would be nearly useless, since by its 
apposition to the fingers, it forms a basis for their 
respective efforts. Thus by its means, we make 
use of pencil and pen, as well as of tools and im- 
plements. The importance of the hand how- 
ever, is vastly enhanced by the moveable wrist, 
the elbow and shoulder joints, and indeed, by 
every articulation in the frame, while the different 
senses guide its efforts and augment its powers. 

II. Our physical wants largely influence the 
development of the mind. Were our relations to 
heat and cold for example, other than what they 
are, existence would be incompatible with the 
change. Yet had ordinary temperatures not been 
frequently too low, men in the infancy of civili- 
zation would no more have thought of construct- 
ing houses or of accumulating fuel and clothing, 
than they would of turning up the soil to prepare 
it for grain, had they been constituted to live 
without food. To the painful impressions arising 
from atmospheric vicissitudes, do we owe the ori- 
gin of architecture, and incidentally, that of 
sculpture and painting, no less than of the rich 
brocade, the fleecy garment and the varied tracery 
of the loom. Nor is it perhaps, too much to as- 
cribe in part to the same source, the amenities of 



ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 25 

the fireside, the numerous gratifications accruing 
from artificial heat and light, as well as a multi- 
plicity of discoveries, with the moral and intellec- 
tual cultivation contingent on their prosecution. 

III. Our relations to air and water so far as 
gravity is concerned, are not less carefully regu- 
lated than those which regard the earth. Were 
air heavier, progression through it would be dif- 
ficult or impossible ; respiration with the present 
structure of the lungs, would be impracticable, 
while our bodies would be unable to sustain the 
pressure. The motion of a fluid so dense, would 
sweep every thing before it, and a tempest would 
tear the ocean from its bed. On the other hand, 
a rarer atmosphere would be equally unservice- 
able; we are hardly able as it is, to bear the 
slighter variations that occur in diving-bells, or 
during mountain ascents. Equal disadvantages 
would accrue, were the gravity of water increased 
or diminished. In the former case, it would no 
longer serve as the vehicle of food, or for the va- 
rious purposes of life. The atmosphere could 
not impel vessels through it, nor would existing 
materials suffice to construct them. 

IV. There is a striking reference in the situ- 
ation of the digestive and other organs, to out- 
ward productions. The mouth so conveniently 
placed for the reception of food, and the teeth so 
well fitted for its comminution ; the stomach and 
intestinal canal like roots turned inward, with an 
apparatus so admirably adapted for the elimina- 
tion of nutriment, and the rejection of waste and 



126 ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 

superfluity. Lungs so constructed, that the slight- 
est effort causes air to pass into their cells; eyes 
and ears so commandingly placed, as to yield the 
earliest intelligence, and situated in a portion of 
the body requiring no artificial covering; arms 
so adjusted, as to render the frame co-extensive 
with their grasp, and the nails and horny cover- 
ing of the feet and hands, averting the lacerations 
to which incessant collision with outward objects, 
would otherwise render them liable. Every thing 
indeed, has been arranged with consummate skill, 
and with the closest adaptation to the exigencies 
of our position. 

2. The joint dependence of human beings has 
led to the most beneficial results, inasmuch as 
long experience has shown the inadequacy of un- 
aided exertion. By so much as the highly culti- 
vated individual is superior to the houseless sa- 
vage, by so much is man in society and assisted by 
his fellows, raised above those who dwell in iso- 
lation and estrangement. Thus, human wants 
promote the cultivation of human energies, and 
evils at first sight irremediable, become the source 
of refinement and intelligence. The solitary 
wanderer may have few vices, but he can have 
no virtues ; for the qualities that ennoble the heart 
of man, and send his intellect careering through 
the boundless fields of science and art, are to be 
ascribed to the influence of association with his 
fellows, on his mental, moral and physical capa- 
bilities. The errors of society must be rectified 
by itself; the breaking up of intercourse might 



ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 27 

diminish, but could not increase human excel- 
lence. 

Sometimes the conqueror and sometimes the 
conquered, man wages war with the elements and 
turns them when he can, to his purposes, until by 
the fiat of the Creator, his organization succumbs 
to their irresistible assaults. Before this period 
arrives however, he is subject to an unceasing 
fluctuation of health and disease, and all nature 
is ransacked for agents capable of prolonging ex- 
istence. The origin of disease is to be ascribed 
partly, to unavoidable outward influences, and 
partly, to human ignorance and carelessness. To 
the former however, do we also owe health and 
physical welfare, advantages that could not have 
been secured without the contingent imperfections. 
The decay of the frame is necessary to the com- 
pletion of our temporal destinies, and to make 
way for a succession of being; while medical 
science yields new fields for the cultivation of in- 
tellect, and disease itself, furthers the expansion of 
the better feelings and sympathies of our nature. 

Passion and ignorance along with clashing in- 
terests, have originated that scourge of our spe- 
cies — war. The conflict, though terrible, has not 
been unmixed with good, since the intellect which 
military operations elicit, extends our empire over 
the physical world, while the eager striving of 
man with man, has promoted patriotism and va- 
riously exercised the higher energies of our being. 
The sudden extinction of life, is war's most dreaded 
aspect ; yet men are mortal, and must eventually 



28 ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 

be swept off, if not by war, at least by age and 
disease. The sacrifice on the battlefield has often 
secured countless advantages to multitudes, thus 
resembling the economy of nature, in yielding a 
part for the whole. War however, must finally 
cease by the contrivances to which it gives rise, 
and which it would be destruction to resist. 

2. The adaptations of outward objects to our 
organization, are not less admirable than those of 
the organization to outward objects. The nu- 
merous purposes which every substance is made 
to fulfil, overwhelm us with astonishment ; and first 
as to the mineral world. 

I. Air, partly from the water which it dissolves, 
and partly from the carbon which enters into its 
composition, proves a source of vegetable nou- 
rishment ; while indirectly, by purifying the blood 
through the medium of the skin and lungs, it con- 
tributes in no small degree to the sustenance of 
man and animals. Fishes breathe, and without 
the air which water contains, would perish. This 
fluid is the vehicle of various odours, some warn- 
ing us of danger and disease, others promoting 
pleasure and utility. The refrangibility of light, 
and the diffusion of this singular substance in 
directions different from the line of its emission, 
add to the welfare of the animated creation. 
Without refraction, there could be no twilight; 
the heavenly bodies would shine in a sky of inky 
darkness, and night would pervade the world 
from the moment that the sun fell below the ho- 
rizon. Air not only refracts light, but its ele- 



ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 29 

mentary rays, each differently . To this in part, are 
owing the tinted cloud, the gorgeous rainbow, and 
the glorious rising and setting of the sun. Upon 
the solution and precipitation of moisture, animal 
and vegetable life depends ; and were this pro- 
perty of air to intermit, rivers and lakes would 
stagnate, rain would cease to fall, and nature 
would expire amid the general drought. Air 
bears up the moisture from the ocean, and by de- 
positing it in fertilizing showers, supplies lakes 
and streams, and maintains the universal anima- 
tion. The mighty rivers which roll their volu- 
minous waters to the sea, are thus kept flowing, 
and what they deliver to the parent reservoir, is 
replaced in a circle that has no end. It is obvi- 
ous that the present amount of evaporation and 
condensation, as well as the existing range of 
temperature, would alone suit the requirements 
of the soil. Were either greater or less on the 
whole, than what it is, the earth would be parched, 
or deluged with moisture ; conditions equally at 
variance with the continuance of animal and 
vegetable life. Thus arise the solution of water, 
as well as its precipitation in the form of snow, 
hail, mist and rain; the chilling blast of winter 
and the tempered summer breeze ; the tremen- 
dous hurricane not less than the gentle zephyr. 
Aerial currents contribute largely to human com- 
fort and civilization. Without them, the mill 
would cease to turn and the trees would forget to 
wave ; no lofty ship would leave her port : there 
would be no intercourse between nations, and the 



30 ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 

produce of distant soils would never be recipro- 
cated. In a stagnant atmosphere, the impurities 
produced by the various processes of life, would 
so quickly accumulate, as to become incompatible 
with its continuance; were it even otherwise, 
every thing would wear the aspect of a dull and 
sombre monotony. All the materials of the in- 
organic world bear some relation to the animated 
creation, and particularly to man. This is shewn 
by their influence over his moral and mental de- 
velopment. How strongly are these things cal- 
culated to swell our hearts with love and joy, to- 
wards the superlative skill which has arranged 
them all? 

II. The properties of water are not less stri- 
king than those of air, and not less calculated 
to promote human well-being. Its importance 
with regard to animals and vegetables is obvious, 
since it enters largely into their composition. 
The greater proportion of flesh and of the pulp 
of fruits, consists of this fluid. Persons subjected 
to famine, survive longer when supplied with it. 
Owing to the foregoing arrangement, sustenance 
is facilitated, while decomposition is rendered more 
rapid. Water constitutes an agreeable vehicle of 
food, as in soups and vegetable infusions ; while 
milk and wine are largely indebted to it. Heated, 
it affords a pleasant, and often a useful stimulus to 
the stomach; and as a detersive, it promotes 
bodily purity. The bath forms an admirable tonic. 
The physical properties of water are equally 
diversified. It is the medium of existence to a 



ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 31 

multitude of creatures. Perpetual agitation puri- 
fies it ; stagnant, it would be inimical to animated 
being. Tides and currents subserve various 
useful purposes, promoting human intercourse, 
and enabling maritime nations to form reservoirs 
for their shipping. The ocean indeed, is the 
high road of nations, while rivers and canals fa- 
cilitate communication and the transport of mer- 
chandize. Hydraulic machines effect an enor- 
mous saving of animal power. Without water, 
chemistry could hardly have reached its present 
eminence. As a receptacle of latent heat, its 
utility in the economy of nature is unbounded. 
Thus, when water freezes, a portion of caloric is 
given out, and when it thaws, a quantity is re- 
absorbed. In this way, these processes are tem- 
pered and made more uniform, while the summer's 
heat is treasured up against the winter's cold. 
Without this amazing provision, water would in- 
stantly become solid at the freezing point, to the 
utter prejudice of animal life; while the slightest 
elevation of temperature would flood the earth. 
In the processes of art, the generation and con- 
densation of steam afford analogous advantages. 
When water is subjected to the operation of cold, 
the surface sinks, and is replaced by a warmer 
and lighter layer ; a process which continues until 
the temperature is reduced to thirty-nine of 
Fahrenheit. If the cold continue, ice will then 
form, but the main body becomes no colder unless 
by radiation, and consequently, remains fitted for 
the abode of life. 



32 ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 

III. The metals are the most numerous and 
important of all substances. Combined or pure, 
they compose the solids which surround us, and, 
with the exception of carbon, the soil on which 
we tread. Formerly, but a few were known, and 
it has devolved upon recent investigators to de- 
termine that clay, sand, silex, lime, magnesia, 
soda and potash, are metals disguised by the 
presence of oxygen. The precious gems, the 
diamond excepted, are similarly constituted. 
Nature, in all things, has a view to our well- 
being ; her gifts however, are not earned without 
desert; while the faculties by which we appre- 
ciate her bounty, are precisely those by which we 
best avail ourselves of it. Gold and silver are 
remarkable as the imperfect representatives of 
the produce of labour, and although of some use 
in the arts, their value is nearly conventional. 
Of all the metals, iron bears the palm. Its ad- 
mirable properties have a clear reference to human 
wants. And notwithstanding the implements of 
destruction which it has served to fabricate, it 
must be confessed, that without its aid in coercing 
matter, civilization must have remained irretrie- 
vably in arrear. We cannot think of the loadstone, 
or contemplate the motions and the symmetry of 
the steam-engine, without respect for human in- 
tellect, and wonder at the vast utility of the metal 
under consideration. Its properties indeed, are 
worthy of the closest study, since they at once 
exemplify the forecast of nature and the wide 
range of our faculties. Independent of their in- 



ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 33 

dividual applications, the metals form combina- 
tions of diversified importance. Brass for ex- 
ample, or the alloy of zinc and copper, is of sin- 
gular utility in the arts ; while mercury separates 
gold and silver from their ores, and transfers them 
when required, to other metals. Without quick- 
silver, we should want the luxury of mirrors, and 
lose a medicinal agent of great power. Potash 
and soda derive much of their interest from the 
fabrication of soap, a substance in a manner in- 
dispensable, to the preservation of health and 
purity. The earths and clays, besides their agri- 
cultural adaptations, serve for the construction of 
fictile vessels, from humble crockery to costly 
porcelain. Some, as lime, form in part the ce- 
ment, whereby we unite the various stones and 
marbles into permanent erections of splendour 
and usefulness. Silicious earth or flint, when 
fused with soda, constitutes glass, a product more 
valuable than all the gems, and one, by means of 
which we exclude wet and cold, while we enjoy the 
luxury of light. It furnishes us with both micros- 
cope and telescope, and helps to give existence to 
chemical science. Minerals yield a vast assort- 
ment from which to select materials advantageous 
in medicine and the arts. One of these, nitre, 
mixed with sulphur and charcoal, forms gunpow- 
der — the last resort, in so many cases, of tyrant 
and slave. The immediate utility of salt, as it is 
emphatically termed, in the waters of the ocean, 
we do not fully know ; but its general employ- 
ment in our food explains the final cause of 

c 



34 ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 

the vast deposits which exist in the bowels of the 
earth. Perhaps no substance could be mentioned, 
on first inspection so useless, and yet so essen- 
tial to human well-being as this, or one in which 
the kindness of Providence is more fully display- 
ed. The prosecution of physical science has been 
forced upon man by the destitution in which he 
was designedly cast. Redeemed however, by 
numerous compensatory facilities, and by the en- 
dowment of extended faculties, it has not only 
made his dwelling the centre of endless comforts 
and amenities, but has also served to elevate his 
conceptions to the great first Cause, and to imbue 
his heart with wisdom and excellence. May we 
not then, venture to hope that our progress has 
not reached its term, but that we shall go on, 
from generation to generation, in the completion 
of our career, achieving new victories in science 
and art, and securing additional enlargements of 
that portion of our being which is to endure after 
material possessions have ceased? 

IV. The adaptations of animal substances are 
equally wonderful. Supplies the most diversi- 
fied, are thus afforded, while the concentrated 
nourishment which they yield, enables us to sub- 
sist on smaller portions of food, and to convey 
provision with facility, by land or sea. The latter 
alone, would perhaps sustain mankind, and the 
fecundity of fishes bears an evident relation to 
human wants. Herrings, shad, cod, salmon, 
pilchards and sturgeon swarm in rivers, and in 
the narrow seas; while the whale and the seal 



ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 35 

supply the inhabitants of northern regions. Ani- 
mal substances are not more varied than useful, 
and we could hardly conceive the advance of ci- 
vilization without their subserviency. Even me- 
dicine, is not without its contributions; some of 
them however, of doubtful efficacy. A few cen- 
turies back, numerous therapeutic agents from 
the same source — the human frame not excepted, 
were held to be the most useful. To the animal 
kingdom the dyer's art is much indebted, as some 
of our most brilliant and durable colours testify : 
also chemistry at large, as in the case of phos- 
phorus, one of the most wonderful of substances. 
The remains thus derived, protect us from atmos- 
pheric vicissitudes, and adorn our dwellings. 

V. If the relations of the vegetable, do not 
surpass those of the animal world, they are at 
least not inferior. The cidtivation of the various 
families of plants tends to develop the moral sen- 
timents of mankind, while the aspect of the green 
fields, the turned-up sod and the pleasant flowers, 
promotes the better feelings of our nature. There 
is a music in the rustling of the yellow grain, that 
lulls the attention and softens the heart. We 
gaze with feelings akin to sublimity, on the gi- 
gantic grass of the tropics, and on the enormous 
fields of Indian corn, sighing and waving in the 
wind. The natural influence of agricultural pur- 
suits however, is so modified and perverted by 
griping poverty, excessive exactions, over-exer- 
tion, ignorance and disease, as to be very dif- 
ferent from what it might, under a happier state 



36 ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 

of things. By ensuring the easy accumulation 
of food, and the consequent stability of abode, the 
consumption of grain has accelerated the march 
of improvement, and prepared for the refinements 
and amenities of life. Nor is it possible to ad- 
duce any advantages arising from the adaptations 
of vegetables, so great as those which flow from 
the cultivation of the cerealia. The nutriment 
derived from plants is singularly diversified; be- 
sides grain, there are roots, tubers, piths, pulse 
and legumens in profusion. How extraordinary 
the supply of fruit, each adapted to its own loca- 
lity: as the orange, the mango, the pine, the 
peach, the sweet and water melons, the plum, the 
apple, the fig, the date and the delicious grape? 
Some of these are dried and laid by as food, while 
others retain their succulence for months. How 
numerous are the wonders of the vegetable king- 
dom; some plants producing wine, others milk, 
water, sugar, wax, butter and oil? And how 
vast the store of dyestuffs, drugs and spices, which 
we draw from the same source? One plant in 
particular, the poppy, yields opium, a substance 
often capable of allaying pain and of removing 
disease with singular efficacy. The bark also, re- 
lieves ague with ease and certainty ; a property, 
the existence of which, can only be ascribed to 
never-ceasing wisdom and goodness. Alcohol, 
or the active principle of fermented liquors, is not 
found in vegetable substances, though many may 
be converted into it. From more than one, cloth 
can be fabricated by a trifling manipulation, while 



ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 37 

from others, it is evolved by more complicated 
processes. Flax and wool, along with silk and 
cotton, form the clothing of mankind; they may 
be tinged with vivid colours, and contribute 
largely, to grace and dignity. The dense and 
beautiful texture which distinguishes them, was 
evidently predetermined to fit them for the pur- 
poses to which our inventive industry has applied 
them. Thus, means and end are secured in one, 
and go hand in hand together. Hemp, flax, the 
fibre of the aloes and pine, cocoa-nut husk and 
other materials, suffice for cordage and cables, 
without which, navigation could not have been. 
The facility of adaptation, the strength, lightness 
and durability of wood, render it of the utmost 
service. Its combustibility, though a drawback 
in one respect, is of use in another; a circum- 
stance that has operated prospectively to our ad- 
vantage, by the transformation of forests into beds 
of coal. Mechanism owes much of its perfection 
to this substance ; and wood and iron, so different 
in appearance, have been closely associated, not 
less by human wants and ingenuity, than by the 
intention of nature. 

We have been placed under the necessity of 
securing our well-being by unremitting exertion 
of head and hand. Kind nature indeed, as if in 
consideration of our weakness, and to secure ad- 
ditional advances, has enabled us to take advan- 
tage of accident. Chance doubtless, reveals facts 
that might otherwise have escaped our cogni- 
zance ; but it is not the less true, that the progress 



38 ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 

of knowledge, is mainly owing to the incessant 
scrutiny of superior minds. How often did the 
phenomena which led to the discovery of gravi- 
tation and the polarization of light, pass by un- 
heeded, until Newton availed himself of them, in 
the one case, and Malus, in the other ? If every 
thing were supplied to the hand of man, there 
could be no virtue, no knowledge, no feeling nor 
any refinement of body or mind. Our higher 
qualities — the excellencies, the graces and the 
amenities of life, are contingent upon our ori- 
ginally helpless and destitute condition, and gra- 
dually evolved by the influence of circumstances 
on our capabilities. Were food for example, the 
spontaneous produce of the soil, agriculture, ma- 
nufactures and commerce could not exist, while 
the energies which civilization calls into being, 
and which are productive of so much happiness, 
would slumber in inaction. In a word, we should 
be possessed of the exterior, but not of the supe- 
rior realities of our nature. The principle how- 
ever, is not without its limitations ; for if some si- 
tuations promote, others annihilate, not less morally 
than physically, the expansion of our being. Yet 
there is a certain medium — a position in which 
nature neither drowns our faculties by excess, nor 
stints them by privation. On the whole, she acts 
with a happy mixture of kindness and severity: 
not like a harsh step-mother, but as a wise and 
beneficent parent, duly tempering her corrections 
with gentleness and love. 

The earth has been gradually prepared for its 



ON THE HUMAN FRAME. 39 

inhabitants. Inductive reasoning shews that at 
a period long anterior to the present, there was 
an arrangement with respect to sea and land, 
climate, animal and vegetable productions, very 
different from that which we now witness, and 
that the composition of the atmosphere, and the 
character of vegetation, were adapted to the crea- 
tures then prevailing on the surface of the globe. 
That there were different gradations of being, 
also various mutations of the earth's surface — 
some of them contingent on the operation of 
abysmal fires, others, on the motion of masses of 
water, whereby continents and islands, with huge 
chains of mountains, were defined and parcelled 
out, the whole being eventually followed by the 
actual state of things. It is difficult or impossible 
to determine with accuracy, the precise duration 
or the number of these changes ; but it is tolera- 
bly well ascertained that each had its own rela- 
tions and conditions, unfitted for any that pre- 
ceded or followed, and that all were in due 
subordination to existing arrangements, and to 
the advent of human beings on earth. May we 
not well ask whether there be anything within 
the compass of observation, better calculated to 
awaken our liveliest amazement, our sincerest 
veneration, or our deepest love, than thus to learn 
that a provident care was excited in our behalf, 
for countless ages before the creation of man? 
Such indeed, are among the demonstrations of 
divine agency, as displayed in endless particulars 
of unlimited wisdom and power, all alike arranged 



40 on man's mutual dependence. 

to secure our moral, our intellectual and our 
physical welfare. 



CHAPTER V. 

ON MAN'S PHYSICAL RELATIONS AND MUTUAL 
DEPENDENCE. 



Sensations are the origin of our ideas and 
feelings. This is the most important relation 
that can connect the two ; and next to it, are the 
associations which they form with each other. 
Thus, when given emotions or ideas take place 
for a certain period, in conjunction with sensa- 
tions, the repetition of the one is sure to provoke 
that of the other. Many of these associations are 
fugitive — others again, are indissoluble. Our 
knowledge of the external world, accrues through 
the avenues of sensation. We cannot perceive 
the soul of man directly, but we are conscious of 
the existence and operations of his material por- 
tion. This is not the man himself; it is but the 
husk or exterior — the garment — the means where- 
by he communicates with his fellows, maintains his 
relations with outward objects, and secures his 
existence and the perpetuation of his race. The 
revolutions of the human frame, which are only 
interrupted when death liberates the spirit from 



on man's mutual dependence. 41 

its earthly associate, clearly display its vehicular 
nature. 

The material relations between man and man 
are very numerous. In the present condition of 
society, no one — not even the individual who re- 
stricts his wants within the narrowest limits, re- 
lies solely on himself for the necessaries of life ; 
while he who is debarred from human intercourse, 
is destitute indeed. It is difficult for any one 
who is habituated to it, to appreciate the depen- 
dence of his position. Accustomed to the minis- 
try of others, he calculates upon its continuance 
as upon that of the phenomena which surround 
him. Our physical energies are in subordina- 
tion to our moral and mental impulses; the in- 
fluence of man on man however, in modifying 
his organization, is only inferior to that of nature 
herself. Our command over outward agencies, 
is prodigiously augmented by association, regu- 
lated by intelligence. The winds and waters 
have thus been pressed into our service, while 
fire and earth are equally our tributaries. The 
progress of machinery daily limits the amount of 
human toil, and thereby promises a more ex- 
tended scope for the cultivation of our energies. 
As to the relations of the sexes, they involve the 
permanence of our race, and the dependence of 
offspring. 



42 



CHAPTER VI. 

ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN WITH THE INFERIOR 
ANIMALS. 



Our connexion with the lower animals is a 
highly interesting one. Their striking infe- 
riority, and our imperfect means of communica- 
ting with them, render it difficult to appreciate 
their real qualities. It has been erroneously 
supposed, that the superiority of man depended 
on his organization; we know not however, the 
intrinsic nature of the thinking principle in man 
or brutes, but it seems impossible to deny the lat- 
ter the possession of properties, in some measure 
analogous to our own. The rapidity of their 
growth, and the subsequent destination of these 
singular beings, require their endowment with 
instinct. Some indeed, have thought that their 
impulses were immediately regulated by the 
Deity; but this supposition is forced, and desti- 
tute of proof. To refer them, on the other hand, 
to reason and observation alone, is to betray little 
acquaintance with their habits. There is nothing 
more truly interesting, than are the adaptations 
of the instincts of animals to their varying wants, 
or better calculated to awaken conceptions of in- 
finite goodness and power. They vary in dif- 
ferent individuals ; and while capable of cultiva- 



ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN. 43 

tion, are largely subservient to the well-being 
of mankind. Reason and instinct, as united in 
some, lead to a combination of qualities, wholly 
beyond human attainment. The susceptibility 
of cultivation in the brute, is far inferior to that 
of man, so that it is justly considered marvellous, 
when an animal can be trained to do something 
beneath the average intelligence of a child. Some 
exaggerate their claims to rationality, while others 
deny them altogether. Truth lies in the mean. 
Were their reasoning powers extinct, they must 
perish: were they greater, man's supremacy would 
cease. Does a futurity await the brute? Some 
of the qualities of the lower tribes, by approxima- 
ting them to man, would infer a continuance of 
their being, while their numbers, and vast infe- 
riority, point to a different conclusion. If the 
Author of men and animals think fit to assign an 
hereafter to the latter, he will do so; but the 
solution of the question must be left to futurity 
itself. 

Though the part which animals perform, be 
inferior to that which is allotted to man, it is not 
the less indispensable in the economy of nature. 
The meanest reptile is necessary, and were it 
prematurely to disappear, might involve the ge- 
neral well-being. The services of some how- 
ever, cease to be required, and it is certain that 
various species have become extinct. Thus, as 
population advances, the lower races vanish : the 
wolf has long since, ceased to infest Britain — the 
lion flees the face of man at the Cape, and the 



44 ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN. 

tiger in the East. Some things indeed, are dif- 
ficult to explain; mice for instance, and locusts, 
occasionally increase to the destruction of vege- 
tation: but such occurrences do not militate 
against the general rule. The balance is pre- 
served by the different portions of creation, 
which, with few exceptions, prey and are preyed 
on ; so that living or dead, all serve as food to 
countless others. Herbivorous animals would 
perish from the excess of their numbers, were it 
not for the intervention of human beings or that 
of beasts of prey ; while the over-increase of the 
latter is prevented by their usually inferior fe- 
cundity, and the difficulty of obtaining subsistence. 
Cruelty has been imputed to them for acts ne- 
cessary to their support ; yet the tiger is perhaps 
no more actuated by it in devouring the lamb, 
than is the latter, in browsing upon the grass. It 
is worthy of observation, that predaceous animals 
strike their victims in a vital part, so that by a 
benevolent provision, they quickly cease to suffer. 
The instincts of animals guard them against un- 
due destruction, while their inferior intelligence 
prevents the anticipation of their final hour before 
the moment of its arrival. Inevitable death 
awaits them at last, and perhaps in becoming the 
prey of others, they experience no greater pain 
than what would accompany spontaneous disso- 
lution. Without the mutual warfare of animals, 
our resources would be curtailed, if not wholly 
cut off. The feathered races destroy one another 
as quadrupeds and insects do ; and a similar pro- 



ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN. 45 

cess obtains in the deep. Many of the enjoy- 
ments of animals arise from their exertions to 
capture and to evade, in which they display in- 
stincts and acquired habits of wonderful interest. 

Some animals prey both on the living and 
dead; while others, as the vulture, hyena, jackal, 
land-crab, insect larvae and fly, confine them- 
selves to the latter. Thus offal and carrion are 
cleared away; numerous creatures are provided 
for, and the effects of unrestrained putrescence 
are averted. As population advances, and clean- 
liness is better enforced, these animals disappear 
with the necessity for their vocation; while in 
situations where moisture quickly exhales, as in 
the sands of Africa and America, their services 
are uncalled for. In the sea, the shark and other 
creatures, perform analogous offices. Nature 
makes every provision for the beings which she 
brings into existence: wisdom and regularity 
mark all her designs. No animal is gratuitously 
noxious : all perform the ends for which they were 
designed ; and all evince both in their habits and 
organization, unceasing evidence of skill and 
power. 

The docility, fleetness and strength of animals 
have admirably subserved the cause of civiliza- 
tion. By means of the horse, we skim the sur- 
face of the soil with an ease and facility until 
lately, unattainable. He lends himself to all our 
purposes ; bearing us to battle or the chase, and 
toning through the weary journey at our plea- 
sure, never pausing while strength remains. By 



46 ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN. 

his instrumentality, the tillage of the soil, the 
transport of necessaries and human intercourse, 
have been signally facilitated. The subordina- 
tion of his powers to our wants and means of 
controul, is strikingly apparent. Even the train- 
ing of this noble creature has been no disservice 
to human intellect. What shall we say of the 
sagacity and faithfulness of the dog, which only 
cease with his life, and which have been so great 
a source of pleasure and profit ? How numerous 
the animals which assist us with their strength, 
or enable us to resist the inclemency of the at- 
mosphere ? The universality of the cow and her 
copious supply of milk, shew that extra uses were 
designed for this delicious fluid. How remark- 
able that contingent states of the earth's surface 
should be provided for? Without the camel, 
its yielding foot and powers of abstinence, the 
sandy desert would remain untrod. Can we 
doubt that the quill which bears the bird aloft, 
and the marshy reed, had not a prospective re- 
ference to the art of writing? Means must exist 
with a view to their eventual application ; and no 
one has yet summed up the various purposes 
which the different parts are destined to accom- 
plish in the great circle of creation. 

We cannot doubt that animals are instrumental 
in the progress of humanity. We witness their 
unconscious concurrence on every side, in the 
furtherance of purposes beyond their powers to 
fathom, and with an efficiency, unattainable by 
any effort of their will. Though capable of im- 



ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN. 47 

provement, there is a limit, beyond which the 
most sagacious cannot pass. A dog, or an ape, 
enjoys a fire, but neither brings fuel of its own 
accord. Some species are more tractable than 
others; it seems impossible for instance, to in- 
duce a cat to do that which is performed by a 
dog. Their capacity appears to be in the ratio 
of the acts necessary for their preservation, and 
of the services which their organization enables 
them to render to man. The qualities of the dog 
would be out of place in the horse. It would be 
useless to render the cat as sagacious as the ele- 
phant; while the physical powers of the one, 
would be out of keeping with the limited endow- 
ments of the other. 

The perfections of animals afford perpetual 
scope for reflection and improvement. We can 
gaze, with unsated admiration, on the fleet 
hound, the graceful colt, the frolicksome kitten, 
the soaring eagle, the far-seeing hawk, the ma- 
jestic elephant, the brilliant peacock, the gentle 
fawn, the strutting cock and the stately war- 
horse. Every individual of the vast host of ani- 
mated creation, whether bird, beast, fish, or in- 
sect, displays qualities fitted with unerring pre- 
cision, to its wants. It fills us with amazement, 
to discover such a variety of adaptation to the 
external world and to ourselves, and to find that 
creatures so limited, should be able to main- 
tain their place amidst a scene of such conflicting 
interests. Instructive as the spectacle is how- 
ever, it becomes still more so, when we reflect, 



48 ON THE ORDER OF SENSATION. 

that the Deity has thus arranged it ; that it is He 
who has adjusted the different parts to each other, 
and to the whole, and that to Him they owe their 
order, their utility, and their existence. Most 
thinking minds have speculated on what they 
should feel, were they permitted to witness the 
scenes of other worlds; yet how many pass 
through life without being once awakened to a 
perception of the vast expanse, the magnificence 
and the variety of that in which they dwell ? 



CHAPTER VII. 

ON THE INVARIABLE ORDER OF SENSATION. 



It was formerly a general persuasion, that 
there were some who could controul the per- 
ceptions of the senses, inflict pleasure or pain, and 
produce illusions at variance with ordinary phe- 
nomena. Such were styled necromancers and 
sorcerers, names that could have no meaning in 
a civilized community. They were supposed to 
command the elements, and to produce changes, 
to an extent, and by means, impracticable to the 
rest of the species. The consequences must have 
been harrowing, when men and women believed 
that the affections of their partners could be 
spirited away; that enmity could blast their 
health, or wither their frames, and that ill fortune 



ON THE ORDER OF SENSATION. 49 

and death, without any infringement of their own, 
awaited them at the command of others. It is 
only recently, that the human mind has been able 
to free itself from this incubus, and that blood has 
ceased to be shed by the judges and legislators 
who laboured under it. Hundreds of thousands 
have been sacrificed, and by a peculiar fatality, 
in those parts of the world deemed most enlight- 
ened. These things are dreadful in the aggre- 
gate, but horrible when we come to picture the 
victim in the hands of the executioner, writhing 
in the anguish of strangulation, or undergoing the 
torments of the stake. It is harrowing to peruse 
the record of the atrocities, the torture and the 
bloodshed which have taken place ; and we can- 
not do so, without blessing the better times in 
which we live. The village indeed, is still haunted 
with ghostly rumours, but ere a few centuries 
elapse, these superstitions will have expired for 
ever. This change can only become universal 
by a knowledge of the fact, that our fellow- 
creatures can have no means of influencing us, 
save through the ordinary channels of sensation. 
The laws by which the physical world is regu- 
lated, are adequate to the well-being of mankind ; 
for it will not be denied that the Deity is able so 
to govern it, as to render the incessant re-con- 
struction of these laws unnecessary. To assert 
that he could not, would be to place limits to the 
exercise of his power. His foresight includes 
every contingency, and the most distant events 
are as minutely regulated as those which are near 



50 ON THE ORDER OF SENSATION. 

at hand. Some may ask — why not save the 
drowning mariner, or raise a useful member of 
society from the languor of mortal disease ? To 
this it may be replied — why should there be 
death ? All must eventually die, and this by the 
operation of laws which none can evade — laws, 
disobedience to which, is pain and suffering, and 
compliance, happiness and well-being. Multitudes 
filling the different relations of life, and possessed 
of all the virtues of humanity, yearly perish ; the 
patriot, the man of science, the philosopher and 
the virtuous parent — not less than the affectionate 
husband, the tender wife, and the obedient child. 
Were the laws of nature, which are but another 
name for the will of God, subject to suspension, 
there would be a diminution of the zeal with 
which we cultivate a knowledge of them, and a 
cessation of our confidence in their invariable 
efficacy. As it is, the necessity under which we 
have been placed of regulating our conduct by 
them, leaves us no alternative but the elevation 
of knowledge or the degradation of ignorance. 
The determinations of the Deity must doubtless, 
be better than any substitute proposed by man; 
and we can hardly avoid concluding that the 
government of the universe by unalterable, be- 
cause perfect laws, is most in accordance with 
the views which we are able to frame, of superior 
goodness and power. 



51 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ON THE ORGANIZATION OF MAN AND BRUTES. 



1. The organization of animals is wonderful; 
the lowest in the scale even, are in some respects 
not less worthy of admiration than the highest. 
One naturalist has written a copious treatise on 
the structure of a single caterpillar, but without 
exhausting the subject: nor is there perhaps, any 
insect that would not afford equal scope for ex- 
patiation. Yet there are more than a hundred 
thousand species ; but this number, or indeed any 
number of volumes, would be inadequate to de- 
scribe them. The human frame however, as the 
instrument of superior moral and intellectual de- 
velopment, is more elaborate, and endowed with 
adaptations more numerous, than that of any other 
creature. Yet not being intended for lasting 
duration, its parts are made up of temporary ap- 
propriations from surrounding materials, the con- 
nexion of which, would perhaps be apparent to a 
being a little superior to man, and unfettered by 
his limited vision and immutable associations. 

I. To an ordinary observer, the organization 
in one sense, presents a greater unity of com- 
position than to an anatomist, inasmuch as the 
latter is apt to dwell on the separate intention of 
the different divisions. These comprise the organs 



52 ORGANIZATION OF MAN AND BRUTES. 

of nutrition, reproduction and relation, of which 
the first two are subservient to the last. Those 
of nutrition, are for the prehension and elimina- 
tion of food, and as the others are dependent on 
them, may be seen in full integrity even after de- 
crepitude has set in. Nature employs all her re- 
sources in their construction, and the necessity 
under which we labour of eating and drinking, is 
at once unceasing and imperious. The preser- 
vation of the species was her next concern, and 
it has been secured by an apparatus of means, 
only inferior in energy and amount to the pre- 
ceding. Organs of relation, or the senses, mus- 
cles, oral apparatus and nerves, are superior to 
the rest, inasmuch as they convey intelligence to 
and from the mind, and place us in any desired 
position with regard to outward objects. The 
muscles constitute the larger portion of our 
bodies — a circumstance not remarkable, seeing 
the multiplicity of motions which by means of 
their innumerably diversified contractions, they 
enable us to perform. Their varied and sur- 
prising arrangement conduces to symmetry and 
strength; the latter however, being less an ob- 
ject than beauty and grace. Muscles are the de- 
positories of animal heat ; they protect and retain 
vital parts ; they also serve as vehicles for nerves 
and blood-vessels, and constitute with the bones, 
the mechanism of the frame. The organs of 
speech are partly muscular and partly otherwise : 
the resonance of air in the windpipe produces 
voice, and further modified by tongue, lips, teeth 



ORGANIZATION OF MAN AND BRUTES. 53 

and palate — speech. Modulation and tone result 
in part, from muscular contraction and expansion 
at the chink of the glottis. Time and use have 
led to the same diversity in the application of 
these organs, as with regard to those of locomo- 
tion and prehension. Speech is the result of 
reason, since organization alone, would not suffice 
to give rise to it. Birds may be taught to speak 
indeed, but the little they say, is destitute of mean- 
ing. This superlative gift enables man to affix 
names to thought and feeling, to register them 
in his memory, and to reciprocate them with his 
fellows — a contrivance worthy of Almighty power, 
and one without which we should be truly destitute. 
Some languages are closely allied, while between 
others there is little affinity. A small number of 
monosyllables composes them all. This circum- 
stance contributes largely to their acquirement; 
for were there as many sounds as words in each, 
the intercourse of nations in so far, would be im- 
practicable. Even the Chinese characters are 
resolvable into a few primary elements. 

II. The organs of which I have spoken, derive 
their energy from the nerves, which in their turn, 
are supported by the organs of nutrition. Upon 
the integrity of the brain, nerves and spinal mar- 
row, all the functions and life itself, depend. For 
if the communication be interrupted, or if the 
nerves cease to act, partial, if not total loss 
of function, ensues. As to what this nervous 
energy consists in, we do not know : like gravity 
or electricity, it is a name for certain ultimate 



54 ORGANIZATION OF MAN AND BRUTES. 

phenomena. Some nerves regulate muscular 
motion; others are the medium of sensation in 
general, while many serve specific purposes. The 
action of the heart, diaphragm, intercostal and 
intestinal muscles is for the most part, involun- 
tary. Its continuance being essential to life, 
could not be wholly left to our uncertain atten- 
tion. The manner in which the nerves act, as 
well as the functions of many of them, are un- 
known. 

2. So long as two views obtain on the origin 
of thought, the subject on which I now enter, will 
be one of importance. The brain, nerves and 
spinal marrow have no uses save those already 
particularized, or others analogous. It is an old 
supposition that the brain was the organ of mind, 
and that mental faculties and the functions of the 
brain, were convertible terms. That to think, to 
remember, to anticipate, to love and to hate, were 
as truly cerebral acts, as vision was an act of the 
eye, hearing, one of the ear, and the secretion of 
bile one of the liver. More recently, a former 
view has been revived, and individual portions 
of the brain are referred to, as the special organs 
of the different faculties. Yet, if the brain be not 
the mind, nor its functions those of mind, neither 
can the functions of its parts be identified with 
the several mental faculties. The divisions of 
Gall, and the uses which he has assigned to them, 
in so far as they refer to alleged organs of thought, 
are equally imaginary. 

It is sometimes urged, that if the brain be not 



ORGANIZATION OF MAN AND BRUTES. 55 

the mind nor the organ of mind, how does it hap- 
pen that we habitually refer the one to the other. 
This however, is a case of association, the head 
being the receptacle of the leading organs of 
sense. Were these situated elsewhere, the mind 
would be referred to the altered locality. It is 
also asked, if the brain be not identical with the 
mind, how it is, that injuries of this organ lessen 
or destroy intelligence. The soul, such objectors 
say, grows with the body, becomes diseased with 
the body, and with the body decays and dies. It 
is however, evident, that as the action of the 
senses from birth, stores the mind with know- 
ledge, so disease, by the decay and diminution of 
organic energy, must not only limit or do away 
with the acquisition of knowledge, but indepen- 
dent of moral causes, suspend or impede the out- 
ward manifestations of the mind itself. The na- 
ture of those states, which are called delirium, 
dotage, stupor and insanity, we do not know; 
but are they to be explained by calling the brain 
mind ? It is said to be absurd to ascribe insanity 
to an immaterial substance; but where is the 
analogy between insanity and an organic or func- 
tional disease? The mind is liable to many hal- 
lucinations and diseased impressions, the explana- 
tion of which, must ever remain beyond the reach 
of our faculties, but it does not therefore follow 
that the mind is material. It seems incongruous 
to identify brain with a knowledge of German 
or Greek, as a certain hypothesis compels us to 
do. There are instances of persons losing the 



56 ORGANIZATION OF MAN AND BRUTES. 

remembrance of one or more languages, some- 
times after disease in the head, and sometimes 
not. Occasionally, the language most recently 
acquired is forgotten, while that first learned and 
long disused, is recalled ; but are these to be ex- 
plained by materialism? Gall and others refer 
the faculty of language to an artificial segment of 
the brain, one in each hemisphere, and assert that 
our knowledge and capability of acquiring lan- 
guage, diminish commensurately with the de- 
rangement of the organ in question ; but there is 
no such specific faculty, inasmuch as the whole 
mind acts, and no such organ. But granting the 
supposition for a moment, how does it happen — 
the organ being injured, that one language only, 
is lost: why not all? Does the larger organ 
comprise organs for every language; for the 
seven or eight hundred that are spoken ; for those 
that are lost, and for those that remain to be 
formed? It is needless to comment upon the 
difficulties into which materialists plunge them- 
selves, by making the organ, the faculty and the 
acquirement, one and the same thing. 



57 



CHAPTER IX. 



ON ORGANIC CAUSATION. 



1. Physiology, strictly speaking, embraces 
all the laws of nature, though usually confined to 
the investigation of those which regulate the pro- 
cesses of life. It is a subject of vast interest, as 
revealing the wonderful economy of our organiza- 
tion. Much of this however, is inaccessible, and 
ever must remain so ; yet our faculties are able 
to appreciate all that is necessary to our well-being, 
and more than able, to demonstrate the power, the 
wisdom and the goodness of the Creator. What 
we know, has resulted from the labour of a long 
series of inquirers, who had to contend with 
apathy, ignorance and neglect. With existing 
facilities, a child — were children so taught, might 
gain information on subjects — the circulation of 
the blood for example, that required all the in- 
tellect of a Harvey or a Servetus to throw light 
upon. 

I. The laws of nature are invariable and im- 
perturbable. They are the source of order and 
regularity. Without them, there would neither 
be summer nor winter, plant nor animal; the 
earth would cease to revolve in its orbit, or whirl 
on its axis. Every form of creation is equally 
under their dominion ; the sea and air, not less 



58 ON ORGANIC CAUSATION. 

than the vast orbs of heaven. In the considera- 
tion of these laws, our attention is peculiarly at- 
tracted by the invariability of their recurrence ; 
thus, day and night, summer and winter, youth 
and age, succeed each other with unswerving 
precision. The revolutions of some phenomena 
indeed, include periods so vast, as to be regis- 
tered with difficulty, yet the course of all that are 
of importance to our well-being, is sufficiently 
observable. Any uncertainty in their recurrence 
or in the order of succession, would lead to end- 
less confusion, misery and dread; while their 
suspension would be the signal of death to all. 
It is not therefore just to blame their operation in 
some cases, when their general tendency is bene- 
ficial. The devastation arising from fire is only 
conformable to laws, of which the observance is 
productive of good, and the interruption, of in- 
tolerable evil. When a vessel founders, we have 
oftener to reproach our neglect, than the winds 
and waves. The same results cannot accrue 
from inattention, as from caution and forecast. 
A gale indeed, will sometimes beat the tempest- 
driven ship to pieces on the strand, and drown 
the crew; but we cannot always have the wind 
off shore. The causes which produce the breeze 
also occasion the hurricane ; and were the weather 
ever moderate, our ships would be weaker and 
perhaps not less exposed to destruction than be- 
fore. Strength enough has been given to the 
stubborn oak to resist the storm ; while the energy 
and skill which the latter calls into being, more 



ON ORGANIC CAUSATION. 59 

than counterbalance the injury of which it is the 
source. The husbandman at one time wishes for 
dry weather, and at another for rain, but it is his 
duty to accommodate himself to the vicissitudes 
of the seasons. Events cannot always be squared 
so as to suit individual interests. Rather let 
us be persuaded that the phenomena of nature 
are best on the whole, and that it is our part to 
anticipate them, and abide by them as we are 
able, without desiring that which cannot be. 

II. It is our duty to avert disease by attending 
to the laws of our organization : if these be violated, 
we cannot calculate on the continuance of health. 
Some of the maladies of childhood indeed, though 
they may be mitigated, it seems impossible to pre- 
vent; but we have it in our power to controul, 
if not to annihilate those of ordinary occurrence. 
The latter develop our social virtues and intel- 
lectual energies, while the former strengthen pa- 
rental love. Mankind inveigh against disease, 
but if the laws whose infringement is productive 
of it, were set aside, our race would perish, since 
they are precisely those, by whose observance we 
secure health, strength and length of life. Pain 
and disease are the monitors which guard the in- 
terests of our organization. Were the former 
not to accompany our neglect, or the aggressions 
of others, destruction would be comparatively 
frequent ; we should perish without being aware 
of it, and the purposes of existence would cease 
to be accomplished. The symptoms of disease 
are warnings given to prevent fatal organic 



60 ON ORGANIC CAUSATION. 

change : thus the sufferings induced by wet, cold, 
hunger, over-exertion and intemperance, tend to 
secure life from the further operation of agents 
incompatible with its continuance. Instinct pro- 
vides for the inferior animals; when domesti- 
cated indeed, they come within the range of 
artificial relief. As to ourselves, the Deity is 
merciful and good. When disease becomes in- 
veterate, or when it has not been early arrested, 
the pain and incapacity which attend it, are di- 
minished. These however, still mark its pro- 
gress, to incite us to its removal ; yet even when 
recovery becomes impossible, they may be still 
further lessened. That pain should occur under 
circumstances in which it can prove of no imme- 
diate utility, is explained by the necessity of our 
organization, which does not permit advantages 
to be secured without the contingency of evil. 
Disease and pain on the whole, are sources of 
good, and the instances wherein they are not di- 
rectly so, but strengthen the general rule. When 
indeed, they have gone their utmost length, and 
when their longer continuance would be but an 
aggravation of misery, life is cut short by that 
kind Power which wills the existence of no use- 
less suffering. 

2. The invariable succession of the pheno- 
mena which surround us, is evident to every one 
who observes with attention, and who reflects on 
what he sees. It is equally apparent in all the 
divisions of nature : in the organic, no less than 
in the inorganic world; in the vegetable, no less 



ON ORGANIC CAUSATION. 6l 

than in the animal kingdoms ; in the human mind, 
no less than in the human frame. Some assert 
the series of cause and effect to arise from an in- 
scrutable origin, and to tend to a no less inscru- 
table end; one change necessarily leading to 
another, in perpetual succession. Others affirm 
that the phenomena of nature, however con- 
nected, have their beginning in the wisdom of 
God ; that their continuance depends upon him ; 
and that they are directed to beneficial and de- 
terminate ends. It is difficult for those who hold 
the latter doctrine on rational grounds, to con- 
ceive how any one could maintain the former; 
the circumstance however, has led to the advo- 
cacy of truth with so much the more energy and 
determination. Temporary error seems an in- 
gredient in the progress of moral discovery, and 
can hardly be cleared away without contrast and 
collision. The votaries of opposing doctrines 
wage the war of opinion with varying success, 
and must continue to do so, till truth gains her 
gentle and lasting ascendency. She reigns with- 
out force, and claims no instruments save persua- 
sion and conviction: every one however, should 
seek her for himself, nor rest satisfied with the 
nullity of a blind belief. 

I. How far in the order of succession, events 
are contingent, it is impossible to know. When 
one set of phenomena are continually observed 
to precede another, it is usual to style the one, 
cause; and the other, effect. We can demon- 
strate nothing on the subject of causation inde- 



62 ON ORGANIC CAUSATION. 

pendent of reasoning and experience ; it is certain 
however, so far as the evidence of these extends, 
that a moral connexion links the phenomena of 
the universe; that they have their origin in the 
Deity, and that he has determined their course 
and the objects which they are to fulfil. We em- 
ploy the term, physical causation, when we would 
speak of the succession and invariability of the 
laws of matter, without any reference to the im- 
mediate nature of that causation, which we cannot 
know. The providence of the Deity, the inces- 
sant dependence of all things on his power, and 
the impossibility of a single occurrence without 
his permission and ordinance, have been admi- 
rably set forth by Nieuwentyt, Derham, Ray, 
Boyle, Swammerdam, Paley and many others. 
It is a subject upon which the wise and good of 
all ages have been fond of expatiating, and thus 
must ever be, so long as the world endures. How 
incongruous is the doctrine which affirms the self- 
production of the changes which we see going on 
around us, and by which means and end, cause 
and effect, are equally confounded together ? To 
him who has intelligence and a grateful heart, 
the moral evidence which all creation displays, 
demonstrates in terms the most conclusive, the 
most convincing, that heaven and earth are made 
and ruled by the Deity; while it overwhelms, 
irrecoverably and for ever, the sad doctrine 
which would deprive us of God, providence and 
futurity. 

3. With the final causes of our organization 



ON ORGANIC CAUSATION. 63 

we are acquainted, but as to the efficient, we are 
ignorant. We are aware of no links between the 
phenomena which surround us, short of the will 
of the Creator. Our bodies, which, in one sense, 
are outward objects, form no exception, since of 
the springs of organization we know nothing. 
If we say that the contraction of the heart causes 
the circulation of the blood, we have to inquire 
what gives rise to the former. We reply, the 
advent of the fluid just named, and thus we rea- 
son in a circle. The slightest impulse of the 
will causes muscles to act, of which perchance, we 
know not the existence or the name; yet quick 
as thought, the desired motion is performed. 
Occurrences the most wonderful, take place with 
such regularity, that we cease to think them re- 
markable. The study of efficient causes has been 
a perpetual barrier to the progress of the mind, 
and ever will remain so, until men shall cease 
their attempts to pass beyond the boundaries of 
reason and experience. Scope enough has been 
given for the business of life, and any further in- 
sight into the nature of things, as it could only 
prove a source of useless, and perhaps injurious 
distraction, has been withheld. 



64 



CHAPTER X. 

ON THE ORGANIC LAWS AND THE NECESSITY OF 
OBEYING THEM. 



1. As we have the inclination or the means to 
observe the laws of our organization, so will be 
our health and well-being. Many inherit consti- 
tutions so defective, that no ordinary care serves 
tp exempt them from disease; yet some even 
among this class, enjoy better health than those 
for whom nature has done more. The occupa- 
tions, habits and cares of mankind are often 
highly injurious, while too many are destitute of 
the information and mental energy, that would 
enable them to struggle successfully against the 
deteriorating influences which surround them. 
The truth of what is here stated, appears from the 
fact, that the great majority perish at an early 
age, and that the average duration of human life 
does not extend beyond eight and twenty years. 
Nature could never design the premature destruc- 
tion of so large a portion of our species. May we 
not then be permitted to believe, that it arises 
from an aggression of her laws, and that it would 
be averted by returning to that just obedience 
which she only requires for our good? The ex- 
ertions of individuals alone, are inadequate to 
lead to so desirable a result. Whole communi- 



ON THE ORGANIC LAWS. 65 

ties must associate to secure it; commerce and 
manufactures must alter their regulations, while 
knowledge must be universally disseminated. It 
is not desirable, were it possible, that men should 
live for ever; but it is highly so, that no one 
should be cut off before the natural term of his 
career, and that while all enjoyed its advantages, 
each should perform his share of the duties of life. 

2. The acts of our organization acquire with 
time, a singular facility of performance. Our 
gestures, language, tones and general habits, 
though gained with difficulty, are repeated with 
ease. The drunkard seems often to lose the 
power with the inclination, to discontinue his vice ; 
the rustic is unable to throw off his clownishness, 
while the orator and the musician cannot cease 
the display of their ordinary peculiarities. Bad 
habits it is true, become inveterate, and with 
whatever difficulty they were contracted, are 
eventually attended with none. This is in con- 
formity with the general law, by which a great 
good is secured at the expense of a small evil. 
We would be desirous that every link were forged 
with the same difficulty as the first, but this could 
not be done without altering the constitution of 
our nature, and forfeiting the advantages which 
accrue from it. 

I. We are so formed, that we cannot indulge 
in extremes with impunity. This is equally the 
case, whether we turn to the side of over rigid 
abstinence or to that of intemperance. The 
structure of society debars many, not only from 

E 



66 ON THE ORGANIC LAWS. 

the comforts, but the luxuries of life, while to 
others, it permits indulgence in every superfluity. 
Undue repetition of any gratification, leads to a 
diminution of its intensity, and even to pain, while 
excess, exhausts not only the functions imme- 
diately implicated, but the whole organic fabric. 
Thus, the bodily strength and capabilities of a 
debauchee, rarely equal those of other men. The 
palate of the epicure acquires a kind of artificial 
discernment as to the mixtures which it encoun- 
ters. Our food however, undergoes but few 
changes, and the ingenuity displayed in disguis- 
ing it, is wholly thrown away. The peasant boy 
who earns his simple fare by laborious exercise 
in the open air, enjoys it with a relish which the 
refinements of cookery are not made to yield. 
Whilst we avoid excess however, let us shun a 
useless and pernicious asceticism — useless, be- 
cause it promotes no moral or physical good, and 
pernicious, because it incapacitates the body, and 
indirectly the mind, from realizing the energies 
of our nature. 

II. The advantages of exercise are very great, 
especially if taken in the open air. In the latter 
case, the blood is purified; the secretions and 
excretions are stimulated; the muscular mass is 
invigorated; the appetite is improved, and the 
entire frame is refreshed and renewed. Indepen- 
dent of what is done out of doors, handicrafts and 
gymnastics afford useful occupation within. It is 
not requisite to make young people athlets, but 
it is desirable that they should enjoy the vigour 



ON THE ORGANIC LAWS. 67 

incident to their age. The practices of some 
schools — those for females in particular, and the 
aspirations of anxious parents, are calculated to 
produce imbecility and disease, rather than 
mental proficiency and bodily health. A kind 
of ignominy, not less absurd than injurious, has 
been cast upon labour. Most rich men would be 
ashamed to drive the wholesome plough or ply 
the axe, yet nature did not give muscles to lan- 
guish in inaction. Labour, both intellectual and 
physical, should be undergone by all who would 
secure a sound mind in a sound body, indepen- 
dent of the irrational trammels of society. The 
very poor however, have no choice ; unremitting 
toil is their portion: hence, one cause among 
others, for their inferior moral condition. The 
pleasures arising from sufficient, yet not excessive 
exertion, are very great ; there is a glow, a vigour 
and a cheerfulness, that redound not less to the 
well-being of the moral, than to that of the phy- 
sical man. 

III. Excesses of sex at all periods, but parti- 
cularly in youth, are productive of the worst 
results. Independent of moral degradation, they 
lead to premature exhaustion and decay. Nothing 
tends so much to barrenness, or the production of 
an unhealthy rickety offspring, as the absence of 
chastity. The habits of society rather incline to 
indulgences of sense. Marriage is forbidden un- 
less to those who are able to continue their ac- 
customed comforts, thus stifling by a questionable 
morality, the purest source of human happiness. 



68 ON THE ORGANIC LAWS. 

It is a grievous error that would render marriage 
less frequent; the alleged advantages are rarely 
realized, while it is certain that unchastity is in- 
creased. The public opinion must be unsound, 
that would promote a searing institution to the 
prejudice of the marriage tie. Assuredly, the 
general prevalence of celibacy, falsely so styled, 
is in so far, incompatible with purity. Can we 
justly call that prudence, in him who refrains from 
marriage, till he can support an expensive es- 
tablishment, when the omission is secured by 
another's misery? These wretched principles 
have kept thousands apart, who by marriage 
might have promoted each other's happiness. It 
would doubtless, be most unwarrantable to enter 
into this sacred contract, without the means of 
support; but who that is possessed of a sound 
mind and a healthy organization, could not pro- 
cure them by honest industry ? The earth affords 
a boundless range for human increase — tracts 
where the joys of independence and of married 
life may be secured, without incurring the un- 
natural and criminal union, of celibacy and pros- 
titution. In fine, chastity is essential to the 
maintenance of happiness, while its absence is 
productive of moral, no less than of physical 
misery and impurity. It is the duty of those to 
whom marriage is impracticable, to maintain this 
virtue by the force of temperance and moral re- 
straint; but I would gainsay, by the test both of 
reason and feeling, those doctrines that would 
enforce its nominal observance, by the sacrifice 



ON THE ORGANIC LAWS. 69 

of such a countless mass of human well-being. 
Chastity must be seated in the heart and mind, 
without which, outward observances alone, are 
insufficient. 

IV. Cleanliness, if not a virtue, is at any rate 
the promoter of virtue ; and we cannot well con- 
ceive its absence consistently with the mainten- 
ance of the latter. The baths and ablutions of 
various nations, bespeak the general conviction on 
the subject, founded indeed, on the wants of our 
organization. In some countries, cleanliness has 
been the object of an almost fanatical observance — 
the end being made subservient to the means; 
but it is obvious, this extreme apart, that it must 
equally redound to health and moral purity. 

V. Our physical habitudes enhance or aggra- 
vate each other. Air, exercise, temperance and 
early rising, promote the appetite and digestion, 
while they secure the well-being of the great in- 
strument which supplies our physical wants, re- 
tains external nature in subjection, and is the 
common agent of our moral and intellectual pur- 
poses. An unhealthy individual, while he is apt 
to entail disease and premature destruction on his 
offspring, is in so far, unable to serve society or 
himself. The unchaste, the luxurious, the indo- 
lent and the unclean, disqualify their moral nature 
for the advance of which it is capable. How is 
it possible for such, to be actuated by the superior 
energies of an intellectual being ; to become in- 
dependent, temperate and self-denying ; just to 
themselves and to others? There are gradations 



70 ON THE ORGANIC LAWS. 

however, since it is not a necessary consequence 
that a man with some vices, should have no virtues. 
Of two evils, it is better that an individual should 
have some defects and many excellencies, than 
that he should be bound up and frozen, by a heart- 
less and icy indifference to all interests, human 
and divine. As the improvement of the moral 
and intellectual man, is the great end of our mortal 
existence, it follows, that all corporeal pleasures 
and pursuits, beyond what are necessary to keep 
our organs in health and vigour as instruments, 
are to be looked upon as secondary and inferior, 
while they should be so ordered as not to impede 
by their corrupting influence, the interests of our 
better nature. 

VI. Correct ideas and cheerful virtuous feel- 
ings, ought ever to be associated with the duties 
of which the exigencies of our being demand the 
performance. This is peculiarly desirable with 
regard to children, since impressions made upon 
them, exert an enormous influence on their after 
life. The artisan, the labourer, the soldier in the 
defence of his country, and the mariner on the 
stormy sea, should all, as a matter of primary im- 
portance, endeavour to connect pleasant thoughts 
with the toils and the dangers, which they are re- 
spectively called on to encounter. Such have a 
right to feel, that while they are earning an 
honourable subsistence, they are at the same time 
performing their parts as virtuous members of 
society. It is incumbent on those to whom the 
charge of bringing up youth to such occupations 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 71 

devolves, that they should not only avoid useless 
severity, but that they should render joyous and 
happy, so far as in them lies, the brief period 
that precedes the entrance upon the arduous 
career of life. Similar observations apply to all 
who are concerned in promoting the comfort of 
masses of men; to naval and military com- 
manders ; to tradesmen, masters of manufactories 
and others; since by so doing, they will lighten 
numerous privations, advance the well-being of 
those committed to their care, and kindle the 
flames of gratitude in many a happy heart. It 
fortunately happens however, that the reward of 
industry is not solely intrusted to accident or 
caprice — for labour brings its own reward. Tired 
and sated with luxury, its votaries will often 
court the gratifications that fall to the lot of the 
industrious ; thus yielding an unconscious tribute 
to the supremacy of nature. 



CHAPTER XL 

ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES ON HUMAN 
ORGANIZATION. 



1. In conformity with the fiat of the Creator, 
dissolution, sooner or later awaits us. It is de- 
sirable however, to know what accelerates and 
what retards this period, as well as what things 



72 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

are capable of modifying the organization between 
birth and the grave. These indeed, are not a 
few. According to the conditions to which our 
physical constitution is subjected, there will be 
health or disease, strength or weakness; early 
death or advanced age ; and to a certain extent, 
even mental sanity or decay. The habits of 
parents, their health, age and employments, as 
well as the peculiarities of their organization, 
exert an extensive influence over their offspring. 
The children of the aged, other circumstances 
alike, are less robust than those of persons earlier 
in life. Intemperance, over-exertion of mind and 
body, as well as violent passions, prejudice the de- 
scendants of those who are addicted to them. The 
children of parents who inhabit close and filthy 
dwellings, and whose employments are deteriora- 
ting, must be defective accordingly. Gout, 
scrofula, insanity, rickets, consumption, or a dis- 
position to them, are often hereditary. When 
both parents are unhealthy, a sound offspring 
cannot follow. The union of many unfavourable 
circumstances leads to corresponding results. 
Correct living will do much to modify, and irre- 
gularity to aggravate, the consequences of a faulty 
organization. Thus, many enjoy tolerable health, 
in whom latent disease awaits but an opportunity 
to develop itself. Multitudes perish during the 
first few years of life. In some cases, the mor- 
tality is owing to a defective organization; in 
others, to the unfavourable position into which 
the subjects are cast. Many bring the germs of 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 73 

fatal disease into the world with them, while others 
cease to exist at birth, or at varying periods of 
their uterine career. A proclivity to disease may 
be gradually destroyed by successive marriages : 
by the converse of this process, it is obvious that 
other results will follow. The disposition to a 
malady may be so slight, as not to be easily gene- 
rated, or so strong, as to require no concurring 
aid. Diseases styled hereditary, must have other 
sources, or we arrive at the absurd conclusion 
that they originated in the first parents of man- 
kind. It is obvious that nature sets up different 
processes for the reintegration of our physical 
well-being: when these fail, the feeble and dege- 
nerate, make way for the strong and energetic. 
Thus, disease wears itself out by the restoration 
of the parties affected, or their removal by death ; 
precautions without which, the propagation of 
organic evil and progressive degradation, would 
be inevitable. 

I. Much depends on the bodily training of 
children, and on the proper regulation of air, 
exercise, food and clothing. Like plants, they 
require the heat and light of the sun, otherwise, 
they languish and deteriorate. Inadequate nou- 
rishment, foul air, want of exercise, deficient 
warmth and clothing, along with depressing 
moral influences, lead to scrofula, rickets, mesen- 
teric and pulmonary consumption, as well as other 
results not less disastrous. The nutriment of 
children at the breast, is affected by the poverty 
of the parent; by sorrow, violent passions and 



74 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

excess. There is no substitute for a mother's milk 
or a mother's care, and children brought up by 
hand, are apt to perish even under the parent's 
eye. In foundling hospitals, the mortality is pro- 
digious. Any one who visits the institutions in 
which poor deserted children are maintained, will 
be struck with the cheerless aspect which they 
present. The happy relations of domestic life, 
and above all, that of mother and child, are sadly 
absent. Undue restraint proves highly detri- 
mental. When habits of repletion and indolence 
are fostered, they act injuriously on the develop- 
ment of the frame; while excessive or premature 
exertion stunts the growth, and leads to imbecility 
and disease, if not to early death. Children are 
yearly destroyed by the improper exhibition of 
drugs. The infliction of bodily injury is one of 
so barbarous a nature, that it is difficult to believe 
that any could be guilty of it. The laws do not 
permit an adult to be assaulted with impunity, 
and why a child? Young people are often mer- 
cilessly beaten by cruel or passionate teachers, 
so that independent of the production of misery 
and disease, the temper is broken and destroyed 
for ever. Education, for various reasons, should 
not be wholly committed to public schools: 
the most zealous teachers cannot well equal the 
care and attention of enlightened parents. Do- 
mestic affections are cut off, while the influence 
of improper companionship is increased. It 
would be desirable if men of cultivated minds 
and feelings, could be more generally induced by 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 75 

increased consideration, to take charge of schools. 
Such would best supply the parent's place, and 
neutralize the disadvantages contingent on public 
instruction. 

II. Numerous agents modify the organic fabric : 
the most prominent, are heat, cold and moisture, 
with their contraries. Poor or insufficient food, 
along with over-exertion, break down the strength, 
and render those subject to them, squalid and 
diminutive, as well as hinder the development of 
feeling and intellect. The effects of the same 
climate, vary with the station and the exposure of 
the individual. Injurious results are subdued 
with regard to those who can choose the amount 
of their labour, and whose frames are strengthened 
by nutritive food, warm clothing and comfortable 
habitations. The judicious application of the 
means within our reach, go far to obviate the 
agency of climate. It is owing to this, that the 
rich in all countries, are less liable to pestilential, 
as well as to most other maladies. The privileged 
classes indeed, are everywhere among the hand- 
somest and best formed, which results would be 
much more frequently the case, did early and 
suitable marriages, as well as a more rational 
mode of living, prevail among them. A kind of 
leprosy, produced by hard work and exposure, is 
common in some parts of Italy; and a malady 
yet more wretched, since both body and mind are 
overwhelmed by it, exists among the inhabitants 
of alpine vallies. Warm climates hasten the ap- 
proach of manhood, and consequently, that of 



76 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

age : girls become women sooner, and sooner lose 
the attractions of youth. In temperate regions 
the greater economy of nature, leads to increased 
exertions, and to a proportionate influence on the 
organization. The position of the poor in all 
countries, by depriving them of various neces- 
saries, as well as of adequate instruction, renders 
them more subject to injury and disease. This 
is the plague-spot — the moral evil of our race. 
A consummation so unhappy, by which the ma- 
jority are deprived of the advantages of life, might 
assuredly be obviated by the better diffusion of 
knowledge, and by institutions whereby the good 
of the whole might be secured, without prejudice 
to any. 

Climate is a name for the heat, the cold and 
the moisture of a given locality. The nature of 
the soil, the alternations of the seasons, the sup- 
ply of water and the temperature, lead to cus- 
toms which modify the condition of the inhabi- 
tants. In some countries, excessive heat or cold, 
suspends vegetation for a portion of the year; 
while in others, the emanations from animal and 
vegetable remains, are inimical to human life. 
Though Europeans have colonized the coasts of 
central Africa, for more than two hundred years, 
they have been unable to engraft their race on 
the soil, and were it not for the negroes, these 
vast regions would remain untrodden by the foot 
of man. Hybrids indeed survive, but individuals 
of white descent never. The conditions of func- 
tion suited to a burning sun, are not adapted to 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 77 

temperate climates : black men die of phthisis in 
the country of the whites, and the latter of fever, 
in the homes of the former. In some countries 
the inhabitants are supported by the chase, and 
in others, by corn and vegetables ; while in a few, 
the reliance is on the sea. Were it not for the 
wide range of sustenance, many districts would 
be uninhabitable. The difficulties occasioned by 
the search after food, while they influence the 
organization, also tend to the culture of the mind. 
None of these circumstances however, act singly ; 
they are met and modified by many others; so 
that the mean result is one, in which numerous 
causes operate. 

III. Those important modifications of the func- 
tions and organization which we call disease, are 
produced, partly by climate — partly, by prevailing 
customs, and partly, by causes unknown. Their 
influence on the animal economy and on the 
moral man, whether directly or through the 
changes which they induce in society, are very 
great. Our race has ever been liable to epide- 
mics. These carry off the weakly and defective 
without contaminating the survivors, while the 
loss is quickly repaired. They are contingent 
on the state of society, and have ever displayed 
their violence among the poor, the ill-fed and the 
wretched. Were such to disappear, epidemies like- 
wise, would vanish. This expectation however, 
must be qualified with respect to diseases which 
attack their subjects only once, as small-pox and 
some others. Tropical fevers also, affect the 



78 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

most vigorous ; but habitude suspends or lessens 
the liability. Thus, the hand of Providence tem- 
pers the evils to which we are exposed, and by 
cutting off their sources, enables us to make them 
the means of bettering our condition. 

The ordinary causes of fever, are cold, exces- 
sive exertion and contagion, but its progress by 
the latter, is frightfully accelerated, when men's 
minds and bodies are lowered and weakened, by 
famine, hopelessness and despair. Some diseases, 
as leprosy and scurvy, are less frequent than for- 
merly, while others, as the cholera, appear for 
the first time. Most, are contingent on neglect 
of the laws of our organization, whether it be 
owing to ignorance, carelessness, or the dictates 
of sad necessity. The ravages of consumption, 
from helpless childhood to decrepit age, are al- 
most incredible. Its assaults however, are most 
frequent and fatal at that period in which the 
heart and understanding yield the richest pro- 
mise of a happy maturity. It is often connected 
with scrofula, itself of such frequency, as to be 
styled the evil. Time and a complication of 
means, would be required to do away with both; 
among these, a superior physical education, and 
the due regulation of air, exercise and clothing, 
the avoidance of undue cold and moisture, late 
hours, crowded rooms, depressing passions and pre- 
mature, or excessive exertion of body or mind, would 
stand prominent. Thus the prodigious sweep of 
yearly destruction, from causes almost purely ar- 
tificial, would be mitigated, if not removed. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 79 

IV. Besides diseases of the body, the mind is 
liable to the absence and perversion of its facul- 
ties — in a word, to idiotcy and insanity. The 
first of these, arises from the imperfect develop- 
ment of the faculties, and from their sudden or slow 
suppression ; the two however, may run into each 
other, by insensible gradations. Fatuity is en- 
tailed by imperfect cerebral development, which 
in some way unknown, prevents impressions on 
the senses from being correctly transmitted to the 
mind; it may also supervene upon insanity, and 
even on mental health. In this deplorable con- 
dition, the mind has few means, and those imper- 
fect ones, of communicating with the external 
world, whether to receive or to transmit impres- 
sions. There is a blindness worse than that of 
sense, which nothing can alleviate, save that final 
change which is to open out new faculties, and 
other means of perception to the soul. 

Between insanity and morbid alterations of the 
brain, there seems no necessary connexion. It 
is common to discover them after death, without 
any preceding mental disturbance, as well as to 
witness the brains of the insane, without any ap- 
preciable lesion. The changes in the organ in 
question, are of the most variable nature, and it 
is obvious that no inference can be drawn from 
those, that are the equal accompaniment of lunacy 
and other diseases. If indeed, the brain were 
the mind, and its functions the faculties of the mind, 
we might arrive at the conclusion that its disease 
or destruction, was equivalent to insanity in the 



80 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

one case, and to the cessation of mental existence 
in the other ; but this is an admission which can- 
not be granted. The organic chain between the 
mind and outward objects, may be imperfect or 
perverted, hence fatuity or insanity; this how- 
ever, does not prove the identity of organization 
and mind, but merely the subserviency of the one 
to the other. Thus, disease whether acute or 
chronic, by deranging the connexion, may induce 
an irregular display of the phenomena of intel- 
lect; but there are cases, as in the insanity or 
idiotcy produced by painful intelligence, in which 
we do not recognize corporeal change. To say 
that the functions of the brain are those of the 
mind, and that they are suspended or destroyed, 
is to take for granted that which has to be proved. 
2. Effects arise from numerous causes, and 
lead in their turn, to numerous results. The 
numbers, wealth, enterprise and intelligence of 
a community, influence government, and con- 
versely. Individuals may do much, but go- 
vernments by a single act — by the facilities or the 
obstacles which they interpose with respect to 
knowledge and liberty, can alter the relations of 
a whole people. Their power for working good 
and evil never ceases, and is almost commensu- 
rate with that of nature herself. In Turkey, 
blessed as it is with a fruitful soil and genial cli- 
mate, the exactions of rulers leave the people 
miserable. The French peasantry anterior to 
the revolution, in order to support nature, were 
accustomed it is said, to secrete a portion of the 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 81 

produce of their farms in caves under ground. 
Owing to insufficient employment, absenteeism, 
the imperfect circulation of capital, the low state 
of education, and the want of a provision for the 
poor, a considerable section of the British empire 
exhibits a state of destitution which it would not 
be easy to parallel. It devolves upon govern- 
ments, were they adequately to discharge the 
trust, to secure a good education for the working 
classes, to attend to the interests of productive 
industry, and to elevate the condition of the poor. 
I. Some occupations retard the development, 
or distort the structure of the human frame, while 
others, induce disease and premature decay. 
Allien children are sent to employments too la- 
borious or too unintermitting for their tender 
years; before their joints are knit, or their bones 
and muscles are developed ; confined perhaps, in 
a close and tainted atmosphere, and debarred 
from the instruction, relaxation and enjoyment 
required at their age, how can we expect that 
their physical comformation or their moral purity 
should remain unaltered? They become pale, 
rickety, distorted and thin; lose the grace and 
symmetry of youth, and at the same time, imbibe 
the seeds of disease and decay. Should they 
grow up, they do not attain the vigour or health 
of manhood, while their offspring are still more 
enfeebled than themselves. The population of 
manufacturing towns and districts has visibly de- 
generated. Unwholesome employment, foul air, 
deficient or vitiated nutriment and debauchery, 

F 



82 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

lay the foundation of various and destructive ma- 
ladies. Pin-making, dry-grinding, stone-cutting, 
and the like, too often induce such, with fatal 
certainty. An occupation, in itself not positively 
unwholesome, becomes so, when persevered in to 
the exclusion of exercise and recreation. Tailors, 
weavers, milliners and shop-keepers, are often 
over-tasked, and their hours of rest sadly en- 
croached on. Every one should have a little 
time to devote to the society of his family and 
Mends, to the preservation of his health, and to 
the cultivation and enlargement of his moral and 
intellectual nature. The life of man is sacrificed 
to the unrelenting spirit of gain, yet the services 
which human beings owe to each other, need 
never prove the source of misery or oppression. 
Moderate exertion is advantageous, but excessive 
toil is not less morally, than physically injurious. 
Thus, the well-being of multitudes is done away 
with, while the life-springs of existence are tainted 
at their source. 

II. Physical depravation is the result of con- 
tinued war, inasmuch as the most robust are 
chosen to carry it on. This would be partly ob- 
viated, were soldiers permitted to marry ; but the 
term of service is unlimited, or if the soldier be 
restored to his home, it is with maimed limbs and 
a ruined constitution. Such a state of things 
precludes marriage, and renders those childless, 
who under happier arrangements, might have been 
the parents of a healthy offspring. As the sexes 
by a wonderful provision, are born nearly equal, 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 83 

it follows that for everv unmarried man, there 
must be an unmarried woman ; so that the naval 
and military force of a country, cuts off nearly 
twice the number from parentage. The existence 
of soldier-craft by land or sea, adds to that un- 
happy class, doomed by their position to moral 
perdition, barrenness and disease. Many belong- 
ing to it, are persons of superior attractions, and 
in so far, an indirect source of physical degene- 
ration. Under other circumstances, such women 
would enjoy a vigorous and healthy offspring; as 
it is, they are childless. 

III. Emigration, while it gives free scope to 
human increase, diffuses science and art with all 
their contingent advantages. We are so re- 
stricted, that the existing population is no criterion 
of the capabilities of the soil ; but we are not con- 
fined to domestic resources. Regions yielding a 
prodigious outlet, lie open to us. New Holland 
alone, were the world's inhabitants congregated 
in it, would not be more thickly peopled than are 
some parts of Europe at present; yet the latter, 
are far from having arrived at their maximum. 
A circumstance like this, is w T ell calculated to en- 
large our conceptions as to the capacity of the 
globe, and to fill us with deep regret, that defec- 
tive arrangements should condemn so many to 
needless poverty. The time may perhaps arrive, 
when the life-supporting earth shall be tilled to 
the utmost ; but the necessity which may then 
arise, to limit human increase, regards our suc- 
cessors alone. There is no existing tendency, so 



84 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

far as nature is concerned, in population to sur- 
pass the means of subsistence: artificial checks 
are the only ones. Hence, we must refer to ig- 
norance and mismanagement, the misery and 
want so erroneously ascribed to another source, 
in equal opposition to the dictates of the heart 
and understanding. The increase of our species 
is a blessing. It calls into being creatures gifted 
with boundless capabilities, and destined to immor- 
tality. It is a duty to avail ourselves of the 
bounty of our Maker; to improve our faculties 
to the utmost, and to exult in the extension 
of our race over the surface of the soil, with 
whatever is good and great in humanity. 

Without the impetus derived from emigration, 
we may well doubt whether science and civiliza- 
tion could have attained their present eminence. 
Colonists among the ancients were doomed to 
few of the evils of exile ; they went encircled by 
friends and relatives, carrying with them the ap- 
pliances of knowledge and civilization, and tole- 
rably secure of the enjoyments of life. Why 
forfeit these advantages : why not establish colo- 
nies on a liberal scale, with a due adjustment of 
the sexes and social callings : why not prepare 
the soil, and human habitations beforehand, and 
transplant the institutions of civilized society? 
Penal or ordinary slavery, settlers barbarized by 
spreading over the soil, with isolated and help- 
lessly dependent establishments, are bad preli- 
minaries to successful colonization. With proper 
management, nothing need be lost, and men 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 85 

might change their abode as easily as their dwel- 
lings. Above all however, estrangement is to be 
avoided ; for if our vices flow from society, so do 
our moral and intellectual energies. It is a con- 
dition for which we are born, and in which our 
progress is to be achieved. Man, by himself, is 
a unit, but associated with his fellows, his powers 
are multiplied. Science, art, and all the virtues 
spring up in society, while in solitude, they be- 
come extinct. The best form of colonization may 
be difficult to compass, yet assuredly, it might be 
made the instrument of enormous, and hitherto 
ill-realized advantages. 

3. The power of man for good and ill is very 
great; we might wish it otherwise, but the one 
cannot be without the other. If we are the in- 
struments of greater good than harm, we cannot 
condemn the arrangement, yet men have been 
guilty of miserable inflictions on their fellows. 
Every form of torture that perverted ingenuity 
could devise, has been employed to rack human 
sensibilities ; death itself, that seeming climax of 
evil, has been perpetrated, with every accompani- 
ment of physical and moral suffering. The fagot, 
the halter, the rack, the dungeon, the axe and 
the chalice, bespeak the one; while persecution, 
slander, exile, present taunts, and denunciations 
of future misery, attest the other. How many 
have been sacrificed to avarice, superstition, envy 
and revenge, or to the necessities, real or sup- 
posed, of justice? Yet man owes kindness to 
man ; and it is not chimerical to hope, that the 



86 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

time may come, when none shall dare to antici- 
pate the natural period of our dissolution. 

I. Superstition has variously degraded the 
character of our race. In the East, it has led to 
self-torture and immolation, and in different parts 
of the earth, to human sacrifices. Countless vic- 
tims have been destroyed, for the imaginary 
crimes of witch-craft, heresy and Judaism. In 
many places, a tribunal was established, for the 
express purpose of detecting these ; while its nu- 
merous victims, torn without a moment's warning 
from the bosom of their families, were cruelly in- 
carcerated, tortured, or burnt. Wars of opinion, 
in which the conquered received little mercy, 
were carried on with ruthless violence. Thirty- 
five thousand, according to Mezeray, of all ages 
and both sexes, met a cruel death at the massacre 
of St. Bartholemew. Rites of a highly degrading 
character at one time prevailed, and even yet, 
charms are employed to restore lost health, and 
avert disease. The extent to which superstition 
has retarded human progress, it is impossible to 
calculate, as the enlightened have been its uni- 
form victims. All who dissented from the do- 
minant creed, were promiscuously consigned to 
destruction, as infidels, heretics and atheists; 
while malice, iniquity and debauchery, too often 
ran riot under the semblance of religious zeal. 
Is it not dreadful to think, that age after age, so 
many of the most virtuous members of the com- 
munity, should have been successively immolated 
on the altars of intolerance? Persecution went 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 87 

to sap the foundations of morality: parents, and 
their children, brothers, sisters, friends and rela- 
tives, were encouraged and commanded by the 
satellites of the Inquisition to denounce each 
other — with what success, let the records of that 
dreadful institution say. Different sectarians 
were cruelly slaughtered by their merciless 
brethren; while each, as it became successful, 
too often retaliated the cruelties of its oppressors. 
Almost everywhere indeed, the votaries of op- 
posing doctrines treated one another with a bar- 
barity, the recital of which, sickens the heart. 
The alternative of Mahometanism was conversion 
or death: a means that succeeded over a great 
part of the earth, India excepted, where a firm- 
ness that bloodshed could not quell, compelled 
the persecutor to desist. Myriads were sacrificed 
for imaginary offences ; and it is but recently that 
British statutes have ceased to be disgraced by 
enactments against them. Juridical murders, on 
the score of heresy and witch-craft, form a length- 
ened and an appalling list. It is a crime to per- 
secute a fellow-creature, because his views re- 
specting his Maker differ from our own. As to 
who is right, and who is wrong, God alone can 
truly know. We trust that he will be merciful 
to those who err — and when He is so, shall we 
poor creatures prove intolerant? 

II. The infliction of death is more common in 
some countries than in others : assuredly, its fre- 
quency is a very equivocal evidence of civiliza- 
tion. In all despotic and demoralized states — : 



88 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

wherever knowledge and improvement languish, 
this extreme penalty will be found most summary 
and frequent, as well as attended with the most 
cruel accompaniments. In the East, a messenger 
with the fatal bowstring, has long been at once 
the announcement, and the expiation of the dis- 
pleasure of the sovereign. To treat a political 
offence, of which the criminality is often a matter 
of mere convention, with the same severity as 
murder and other outrages against human na- 
ture, is to confound the distinctions of right and 
wrong. If crimes, which involve the well-being 
of the community, are only to be arrested by the 
destruction of the offender, then are capital pun- 
ishments unavoidable ; but if this be not the case, 
they are at once immoral and unnecessary. The 
most enlightened and virtuous members of every 
civilized community are against their perpetra- 
tion ; and it is easy to foresee — thanks to the 
unanswerable arguments of a Beccaria, a Living- 
ston and a Bentham, that at no distant period, 
the shedding of human blood will cease to be 
connected with the judgment-seat. Tuscany for 
a time, and Russia under the Catherines, pro- 
scribed the infliction altogether ; while elsewhere, 
philanthropists have essayed its suppression, with 
varying success. The inhumanity of the prac- 
tice is most conspicuous with regard to women. 
In this country, a year hardly elapses, in which, 
by a peculiar unhappiness, some are not exe- 
cuted. Whence this necessity — are our women 
more depraved than elsewhere? The infliction 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 89 

of capital punishment on a woman — perhaps too, 
some poor penitent creature, is nothing less than 
an outrage against the sex and against humanity. 
Is the bosom whence we draw the life-springs of 
existence, on which we rest in affliction, and in 
the communings of affection — is that bosom to be 
convulsed by the agonies of a violent death? 
Public executions demoralize the spectators, and 
render them callous to the shedding of human 
blood. Independent of the mental anguish and 
physical tortures of the sufferer, the pain that is 
inflicted on the better portion of the community, 
is enormous : the guilty and the unfeeling are in- 
different, while the humane and the innocent, are 
wrung with anguish and commiseration. The 
disproportion of the punishment to the offence, 
creates a sympathy for the criminal, anything but 
favourable to the interests of justice. These 
things afford us the strongest incentives to search 
into the causes of crime, and, by diminishing its 
amount, to lessen the frequency with the neces- 
sity, for the harrowing exhibitions of human de- 
struction. 

III. War is one of the most copious sources of 
violent death. It does not always indeed, make 
men savage and blood-thirsty, inasmuch as the 
best have often been forced to engage in it; but 
the ignorant and uninstructed, and such consti- 
tute the majority of warfaring men, are almost 
necessarily rendered so. War is a hideous evil. 
Whether we survey it in ancient or modern 
times, under any of its hydra-headed aspects, it is 



90 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

everywhere the same. North, south, east and west, 
its brutalizing tendencies remain unaltered. What 
ravages does not history reveal? The intermi- 
nable contests of Asiatics and Europeans; of 
Greeks and Romans ; of nations styled civilized, 
and those acknowledged barbarous, have the one 
degrading character. Whether in the open field 
or the walled-in city, bloodshed, misery and de- 
solation are equally conspicuous. It is little in 
comparison, for a man to die with arms in his 
hands : he hardly feels the smart. If he strike 
with the edge of the sword, he is stricken again — 
the terms are equal. When a town however, is 
captured ; when its defenceless inhabitants — when 
old men, women and children, are put to death, 
and when excesses are committed that disgrace 
humanity, what can we say but that war is the 
most awful of calamities, and its pursuit the most 
demoralizing to which mankind are addicted. 
Thus, for example, when we read of the sacking of 
Rome — when we hear in imagination, the shrieks 
of victims undergoing the merciless inflictions of 
boundless cruelty, avarice and lust — when we see 
the streets reeking with gore, and strewn with 
the bodies of the dead and dying — youth, beauty, 
infancy and age, alike dishonoured and disre- 
garded, our hearts within us, thrill with horror. 
At Magdeburg, soldiers amused themselves with 
beheading women, casting children into the flames, 
and spearing infants at their mothers' breasts, 
the whole being wound up with public rejoicings 
and thanksgivings. How frightful were the scenes 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 91 

at Badajos, and more latterly, at Scio. At Zara- 
gossa, a pestilence broke out during the bombard- 
ment, which together with the usual agents of 
destruction, left the bones of forty thousand per- 
sons of every age and sex, in the streets. Such 
are the horrid particulars, which during every 
war and every siege, are freshly repeated. Thus, 
millions upon millions have perished, and the 
earth has become one vast field of blood. It is 
dreadful to think that the evil energies of multi- 
tudes, should be awakened at the nod of some ca- 
pricious despot, ruthless fanatic, or unprincipled 
intriguer. No pen could trace the miseries accru- 
ing from the wars that ambition, hatred and reli- 
gious rancour, have kindled. Who shall recount 
the hardships of the victims, or the complicated 
agonies to which this wretched pursuit has led? 
Could we inspect the battlefield and see the floods 
of gore, the corpses of the slain and the writhings 
of the wounded; could we visit the relatives of 
those who have perished — the lonely parent, the 
widowed wife and the forsaken child : could we 
witness the ruined city, the ransacked territory 
and the desolate home, or enter into the hearts 
whose peace has been for ever lost and broken, 
then, should we form some conception of the ra- 
vages of war. Happy is it for us, that the voice 
of reason and humanity, aided by the increasing 
perfection of the machinery of destruction, pro- 
mises at no distant period its utter extinction. 
Yes, the time will come when the hand of man 
shall no longer be directed against his fellow, and 



92 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

when the spread of knowledge and the cultivation 
of the heart, shall unite our race in the bonds of 
an everlasting peace. 

IV. The duel is a practice of modern times. 
It places the innocent and the guilty upon equal 
terms. Frivolous motives generally lead to the 
contest ; but even where grievous injuries have 
preceded it, where lies the propriety of subjecting 
the sufferer to additional mischief? Duels how- 
ever, do not answer the purposes assigned to 
them, since insults may be conveyed with such 
studied malignity, as to yield no scope for redress. 
Many accept challenges through the dread of 
ridicule. Numbers, the most exalted in the pos- 
sessions of the heart and understanding, have 
thus been lost to themselves, to their friends, and 
to society. It must be admitted, that the duel, 
with every appeal to brute force, is indefensible: 
the objects of such, will be better realized by the 
reprobation of society. Instructed public opinion, 
will be a more efficient agent in repressing and 
chastising the ordinary results of passion, malig- 
nity and brutality, than any other that could be 
devised. 

V. Murder is a crime of so deep a die, that its 
frequency bespeaks the greatest insecurity, and 
the lowest condition of morality. It presents 
shades of guilt however. The man who after 
experiencing atrocious villany, destroys its author, 
cannot be put on the level of one who plies the 
assassin's trade for hire, or who acts under the 
influence of malice and hate. Murders from po- 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 93 

litical enmity, or grinding misrule, are of a lighter 
hue ; but every attempt against life and property ; 
every act of brute or personal violence; every- 
thing in fine, that diminishes individual security, 
lowers and degrades our nature. 

VI. The self-extinction of life, by sudden vio- 
lence or continued mortification, has never been 
placed on a level with murder. Asceticism has 
long been practised in certain European com- 
munities; by Mahometan fakirs and dervishes, 
and by the motley sects that abound in Hindos- 
tan. Strange, that men could hope to propitiate 
the Deity by torments, or suppose that excellence 
could accrue from excessive self-denial or secret 
austerities. Asceticism is far removed from tem- 
perance. The latter, is reasonably regarded as 
a source of moral purity, but pushed to an ex- 
treme by the unhappy recluse, the means are 
converted into the end. In Europe, some clothe 
themselves in the coarsest garments, scourge their 
naked flesh, and consume the poorest food. The 
founders of various sects, interdicted flesh and 
even fish, to which some added periodical blood- 
letting. In the East, the victims of ignorance 
and fanaticism pierce their flesh, retain their 
limbs in constrained positions till they become 
powerless, or prostrate themselves beneath the 
crushing chariot- wheels of frightful idols. It 
gives one a lively conception of the spirit of asce- 
ticism, when we find that it could lead men to 
seclude themselves in caves and desert solitudes, 
or perch themselves for years, on the summits of 



94 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

lofty pillars. The severities of monastic life have 
destroyed numbers: the monks of La Trappe 
rarely reached the age of fifty. At Paris, a con- 
vent is spoken of, which even now, is said to 
change its young inmates every few years by 
death. All such practices, whether they lead to 
summary loss of life or protracted decay, are ab- 
surd and indefensible. As to suicide, the inse- 
curity which prevailed among the ancients, lent 
a colour of defence to an infliction that might tend 
to avert a cruel death, or lingering wretchedness. 
At present, while justly proscribed, we have not 
been able to banish the evils and the vices which 
lead to it. The practice has sometimes become 
epidemic, from a kind of sympathetic madness, to 
which ill-constituted minds are liable ; but who 
would say that a Lucretia, a Cato, or an Arria, 
was insane ? Would it be just to style that woman 
so, who to avoid the mercies of pirates, should 
destroy herself; or the man, who preferred self- 
destruction to the lingering torments of an Auto 
da fe ? Yet, while we denounce suicide in terms 
the most decided, instances will occur in which 
we shall have to pity more than condemn, the 
victims of boundless passion, or hopeless misery : 
and even those whom crime has driven to this 
last sad act, should not be wholly denied the tri- 
bute of our compassion. 

VII. Slavery has festered in the bosom of so- 
ciety for thousands of years; and though able 
minds and feeling hearts have opposed it, still 
maintains its ground. The appropriation of the 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 95 

persons of our fellows is a usurpation as iniqui- 
tous, as any by which tyranny and injustice have 
ever been characterized. It is so wholly inde- 
fensible that we might well wonder that any could 
attempt to justify it, were we not aware that men 
who profit by a wrong, are slow to acknowledge 
it. Such cannot bear the contemplation of any 
arguments, save those which favour their sinister 
interests. The growth of the human mind is 
slow, and it seems to require generation after 
generation to bring it to the appreciation and the 
practice, of the commonest principles of justice 
and morality. What can be said, but that slavery 
is the aggression of the strong against the weak ; 
the most glaring of the infringements that figure 
in the long catalogue of crime and folly. By the 
British until lately, and by the Brazilians and 
Americans still, this dreadful institution was, and 
is, extensively maintained. The hideous atroci- 
ties of the slave-trade by sea; the separation of 
friends and relatives; the embarkation in the 
filthy and crowded hold ; the chains, the morta- 
lity and the violent death; the sale of human 
flesh, and the unremitting toil, are known to all. 
Not less horrible is the trade by land. In the 
United States, the unhappy victims collected in 
the north, are sent to perish in the rice-swamps 
of the south. In the regions of central Africa, 
multitudes are procured and disposed of, to Moor- 
ish and European traders. The route by which 
they pass, is marked by the dead of every age 
and sex. Of these, the skeletons and mangled 



96 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

remains, lie scattered in every direction; some 
clasped in each others arms as they fell, others 
dissevered and destroyed by the elements. 

Though the labourer on the soil is rarely the 
property of the owner, his condition largely calls 
for amelioration. His freedom, where it exists 
however, is a step gained, and the prelude to far- 
ther improvement. It has at least, tended to 
loosen prejudice, since the slave, whether black 
or white, is ever looked upon as an inferior being 
by his master. Thus, the negro is said to be 
smitten with a natural incapacity ; the perpetra- 
tors of injustice always defending its continuance, 
by alleging as reasons, the results which they have 
produced. Yet, still the labourer is in some sort 
the slave of society, as it only devolves in part 
upon himself, to determine whether he shall work, 
and consequently, whether he shall eat. As- 
suredly, all who are willing to earn them, should 
enjoy the comforts of life, and not be left to a 
fortuitous demand for their exertions. Some in- 
deed, conceive that the working-classes are not 
entitled to physical, moral or intellectual eleva- 
tion. It is certain however, that this prejudice 
must one day cease, and that the time will come, 
when all shall feel surprise that obstacles could 
ever have been thrown in the way, of the well- 
being and improvement of any portion of our 
race. 

4. The influence of literature, science and art, 
is among the most beneficent in existence. All 
three enhance the dignity of human nature, but 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 97 

the last two have an especial reference to our 
wants. Medicine for example, alleviates or re- 
moves, and often averts disease. Mathematics, 
chemistry, geology, astronomy, natural philoso- 
phy and natural history, conduce to the well- 
being and permanence of the frame. The appli- 
cations of science are of inexhaustible variety; 
they multiply our conveniencies, and by condu- 
cing to the elegancies and refinements of life, 
promote the interests of virtue and happiness. 
Our race however, is assisted in its progress by 
a concurrence of circumstances, and has not been 
solely left to the meritorious, though too often 
fruitless efforts of legislators and philanthropists. 
The improvements in arts and manufactures, 
must eventually lead to alterations the most im- 
portant, in the condition of mankind ; and it will 
one day be admitted, that those who are willing 
to earn them, have a right to share in the advan- 
tages which flow from the energetic and well 
directed application of the powers of body and 
mind, with which nature has gifted us. 

5. The influence of mind on body is great. It 
is matter of common observation, that excitement 
will cause the heart to throb, and the blood to 
rush to the face. Many sensations are awakened 
or rendered intense, by directing the attention to 
them ; thus, painful or pleasing emotions, and thrills 
of horror or delight, dart over the frame, and shocks 
arise, which occasion instant death. Paralysis, 
grey 'hair and temporary suspension of the facul- 
ties, have been similarly produced: the terms, 

G 



98 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

transfixed with terror, rooted to the spot with 
surprise, are expressive of such occurrences. In- 
dividuals actuated by strong emotion and fixity 
of purpose, go through exertions to which under 
other circumstances, they would be wholly un- 
equal. The soldier will ma^e efforts in the 
hour of victory, of which he would be incapable 
during the languor of defeat. Maniacs, and those 
in the delirium of disease, often overpower the 
most robust : and persons whose strength is ap- 
parently exhausted, become comparatively vigo- 
rous after the receipt of pleasant intelligence. 
Sportsmen and men of science, afford instances of 
people so pre-occupied, as to be almost insensible 
to fatigue. The watching and the toil of which 
a devoted woman is capable, by the couch of sick- 
ness, have been the theme of eulogy in every age. 
Depression renders disease fatal, that might have 
been otherwise ; while recoveries ensue in des- 
perate cases, in which the patient has displayed 
unshaken fortitude. Under the worst combina- 
tion of events, equanimity will diminish the evils 
of sickness, and enable us to bear the approach 
of death with calmness and resignation. 



99 



CHAPTER XII. 

ON THE ADAPTATIONS OF THE HUMAN FRAME; 
ITS UNCEASING MUTATIONS, AND THE ARGUMENT 
THEREBY DERIVED, FOR THE SEPARATE NATURE 
OF THE SOUL; ALSO, ON ORGANIC DECAY AND 
DEATH. 



Our functions and organization are only cal- 
culated for the present ; the least alteration in 
either, would be tantamount to a total change in 
our physical nature, as well as in the outward 
world. On the other hand, the slightest varia- 
tion in things external, would lead to an equiva- 
lent one in the organic structure. In the world 
as it is, every object has a fixed relation to every 
other; all are connected by indissoluble links. 
Hence, sickness and accident, pain and death, 
not less than life, and pleasure, and motion, with 
all energy of body and mind, are equally neces- 
sary in our mortal existence. Without light, the 
eye would have been superfluous, and another 
mode of perceiving objects must have been called 
for. The absence of air would have rendered 
the organs of hearing and respiration useless, and 
the renewal and circulation of the blood imprac- 
ticable. Had gravity been otherwise, the mus- 
cular apparatus and bony structure would have 
been thrown out of play ; there would have been 



100 ADAPTATIONS OF THE HUMAN FRAME. 

no adhesion to the earth's surface, and no pro- 
gression. Were it not for the teeth to masticate, 
the saliva to moisten, and the stomach and intes- 
tines to elaborate our food, the nutritive qualities 
of animal and vegetable substances would have 
been thrown away. Without the adaptations of 
our senses to outward objects, and the property 
which these possess, of making impressions in re- 
turn, there could neither have been pleasure nor 
pain, knowledge nor ignorance. It is needless 
to pursue the parallel farther. The power, the 
wisdom and the goodness, conspicuous in the in- 
stitution and regulation of these wonderful parti- 
culars, could with equal facility, have ordered 
them otherwise ; but as it is, they afford a never- 
sleeping evidence of the stupendous providence 
of the eternal Architect of all created things. 

The alterations in the organic fabric, from 
birth to the grave, are unceasing. It is through 
their instrumentality, that old particles are re- 
placed by new ; that the body alters in size and 
stature; that the changes ensue between youth 
and age, and that organs are repaired after injury 
or disease. Thus, the nails and hair grow, and 
the scarf-skin is renewed, while every internal 
part undergoes a similar mutation. The weight 
and solidity of the bones even, form no exception ; 
hence, in young animals they are soft and juicy, 
in old ones, hard and dry ; in the one, smooth and 
round, in the other, notched and irregular. Si- 
milar observations apply to other structures — the 
brain for example : so that if the latter, as some 



ADAPTATIONS OF THE HUMAN FRAME. 101 

contend, be the specific organ of thought, and its 
mechanism, the source of our passions and facul- 
ties, personal identity becomes a dream. Thus, the 
food of to-day would become mind to-morrow, and 
be converted into knowledge or ignorance, love or 
hate. Consciousness is the peculiarity and the 
evidence of mind; but if organized matter can 
become conscious, a separate mind is superfluous. 
Never-ceasing changes are everywhere taking 
place: old materials are wrought up into new; 
out of decay and disease, come beauty and no- 
velty ; nothing is lost or thrown away. It is ap- 
parent, if this were not the case, that that which 
was once made use of, could be made use of no 
more; that nature would be exhausted, and the 
soil encumbered with worn-out remains. Young 
animals could no longer increase in size, nor adult 
ones in vigour; there would be no restoration 
after disease, nor any of that wonderful accom- 
modation to circumstances, which is manifested 
by our frames through life. The means of exist- 
ence would be taken away, and the beautiful 
spectacle of incessant renovation, would be dis- 
played no more. Not less surprising is the di- 
versity of our sustenance, made up as it is, by 
appropriations from almost every form of animal 
and vegetable life. The process is incessantly 
active : each moment we gain and lose an infinity 
of particles. What shall I say — our bodies are 
a tissue of wonderful mechanism, conceived by 
supreme wisdom, and adapted by boundless power 
to the varied purposes of our earthly being. 



102 ADAPTATIONS OF THE HUMAN FRAME. 

Every organized fabric sooner or later, decays. 
Man enjoys no exemption. As he is born, so he 
dies, and without this consummation, his existence 
could not have been. If our race had been made 
to endure with the globe, there could be no suc- 
cession of generations, none of the relations of 
paternity or childhood, brother or sister, husband 
or wife. There would neither be infancy nor old 
age, man nor woman, since these conditions could 
only be contingent on a limited period of dura- 
tion. There would be no increase, and no di- 
minution of our numbers ; none of the diseases 
and accidents to which we are now liable, much 
less any uncertainty on the score of subsistence; 
while the occupations of mankind, inasmuch as 
they arise from the pursuit of this, would be cut 
off. The energies flowing out of the transient 
tenure of existence, with the affections accruing 
from the actual position of humanity, could not 
ensue; while the hopes, the fears, the pleasures 
and the pains — in fine, the vicissitudes which 
yield so great a zest to life, would cease. Instead 
of the multitudes which come into being, there 
would be the same permanent few ; and in place 
of endless accessions to the regions of eternity, 
there would be a limited number of creatures with 
imperfect sympathies, equally destitute of hope or 
fear. In such a state of things, there would be 
little progression in science or art; men without 
the impulses of interest or pleasure, would soon 
arrive at the utmost verge. But it is impossible 
to conceive the endless prolongation of human 



ADAPTATIONS OF THE HUMAN FRAME. 103 

life, without a total revolution in our faculties and 
outward relations: it has not been intended, nor 
can it ever be. The duration allotted to us, is 
sufficient for every useful purpose; were it in- 
creased, it is not likely that we should be satisfied, 
or make a better use of our time. If indeed, the 
premature destruction of multitudes* were the 
direct ordination of nature, there might be subject 
for complaint, but this is owing to causes that are 
wholly artificial, and consequently, susceptible of 
mitigation or removal. 

We are so constituted, that existence beyond 
a given period, is impossible. An impulse has 
been furnished, and means imparted ; by the union 
of both* We achieve a certain duration, beyond 
which* the utmost attention, and all the resources 
of human skill, are inadequate to convey us. 
There is no fact better determined within the 
range of our experience* than that one day we 
must die. The most thorough-going sceptic, the 
atheist, the disbeliever in Divine providence and 
human virtue, yield an unhesitating assent to this. 
Every one has died* and they never doubt, that 
they themselves, shall die likewise. The means 
which nature has provided to secure a consum- 
mation so important, infallibly fulfil their end. 
Infancy, manhood and decrepitude, come the one 
after the other, with a certainty that nothing can 
evade. No human being has been known to re- 
main stationary at any of these periods, and live. 
They succeed each other with unerring precision, 
as death itself, follows life. 



104 ADAPTATIONS OF THE HUMAN FRAME. 

It would be trite to enter into a detail of the 
changes that precede the termination of our mor- 
tal career ; I may observe however, that they are 
imperfectly known, and that the immediate cause 
is wholly so. Some physiologists with little foun- 
dation, have separated the functions into two 
classes — the animal and the organic ; one of which 
they state, perishes before the other. It is erro- 
neous however, to say that the intellectual, dies 
before the physical man. Our intellectual nature 
cannot die ; it is in truth, our only real existence. 
We are conscious to the last. Our moral and 
intellectual manifestations often languish before 
the approach of death, as they sometimes do at 
an earlier period; but this does not always hap- 
pen, much less is it a necessary condition. It 
would seem to arise from the absent cultivation 
of the powers, as much as from the influence of 
body on mind. A thousand instances prove, that 
unintermitting energy will do much to secure the 
continuance and increase of our faculties, far be- 
yond the period which some would condemn to 
an ever-recurring imbecility. 

Death is a necessary part of the economy of 
Providence ; but it would shock our sensibilities, 
were it to come upon us without the existing pre- 
paratives of sickness and infirmity. Thus, the 
benevolence of the Deity is continually mani- 
fested, and his arrangements brought in some 
measure, within the compass of our conceptions. 
Death succeeds life, as wave follows wave — as 
sunshine follows the shower, or as light comes after 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 105 

darkness. When our organization has performed 
its part — when the soul has fulfilled its appren- 
ticeship, and when the dismantled machinery is 
cast away — it comes. Death should be calm and 
tranquil, for the struggle is brief, and the pain, 
if any, but of the moment. We fall as if asleep, 
but our slumbers are of short duration, and when 
we wake, it is still in the hands of Him who is 
the equal dispenser of our immortal, as of our 
mortal destiny. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

ON THE BEST MEANS OF SECURING THE PHYSICAL 
WELL-BEING OF MANKIND. 



1. Physical education is of equal importance 
to every class; yet the children of the wealthy 
are often delicate, while those brought up in the 
road-side cottage, commonly bloom with health 
and vigour. As age advances, the comforts of 
the former, and the hardships and destitution of 
the latter, cause the picture to be reversed. A 
healthy organization and pure blood, are necessary 
as a foundation for superior physical training: 
ambition, avarice and ignorance however, as well 
as better motives, hinder people from perceiving 
that marriage to those with blighted constitutions, 



106 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

as tending to the production of a diseased and 
short-lived progeny, is forbidden. The inter- 
marriage of persons of the same stock, is apt to 
lead to a similar result, and the admixture of 
different races to an opposite one. 

I. Atmospheric vicissitudes require in-door 
seclusion, but this is carried too far. The light- 
clad peasant child and the sailor-boy, bear storm 
and shower with comparative impunity. Young 
people should be much in the open air, as it ani- 
mates and strengthens all the functions of the 
frame. Wet and cold will seldom do injury if 
proper clothing be made use of, and undue expo- 
sure be avoided. Atmospheric vicissitudes, while 
they harden the frame* prepare the individual for 
the storms of life ; physical, leads to moral endu- 
rance, and the evils of existence impart a higher 
relish to its goods. Over-exertion is to be depre- 
cated at all times. The bath is productive of 
vigour, but cold is to be employed with caution. 
Clothing is sometimes in excess; often alas, too 
scant ! Parents under the idea of strengthening 
their children, sometimes make Use of too little. 
Artificial coverings are not graduated to the sea- 
sons ; hence, the frequency* and in part the fatal- 
ity, of pectoral diseases. Every article of food, 
bread in particular, should be the best of its kind. 
The purity of this important substance, upon 
which* the well-being of so many young creatures 
depends* should be zealously enforced. If the 
palates of children be unduly stimulated, gluttony 
and demoralization must ensue. Proper food 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 107 

without excess, and judicious exposure* operate 
beneficially through life. 

II. When children have access to the open air, 
they generally take sufficient exercise; in bad 
weather however, gymnastics, calisthenics, dan- 
cing and the various handicrafts, may be substi- 
tuted. It is needless to cultivate the bodily 
powers, beyond what is necessary for the preser- 
vation of health, and the acquisition of ordinary- 
dexterity. Feats of strength and sleights of hand, 
are equally to be deprecated. Employments ap- 
propriate to the age and sex are permanently 
useful : they impress the young with the value of 
industry, and form them to habits of order and 
regularity. Those which, with bodily exertion, 
involve the acquisition of knowledge, are pecu- 
liarly worthy of cultivation. It can never be 
reckoned superfluous to turn attention to the 
works of God, and to lead the child to find plea- 
sure, health and occupation in the pursuit. 

Physical exertion is often modified, so as to 
correct the various results of muscular debility. 
The distortion however, which arises from disease, 
demands different measures. Those who grow 
rapidly, or who from any cause are enfeebled, 
require graduated exertion, longer rest, and ad- 
ditional supplies of food. Too much time is de- 
voted to sedentary occupations. Every young- 
person — health and weather permitting, should 
be at least four hours daily, in the open air. The 
intellect would be more quickly developed, were 
attention directed to fewer pursuits at once. The 



108 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

forcing system can but lead to premature exertion 
of body and mind, arrested development, de- 
formity or disease, for which superficial acquire- 
ments, and a disrelish for real information, are 
often the only compensation. A graceful carriage 
is not to be secured by attitude, independent of 
unconstrained muscular effort. Steel collars, 
back-boards, and reclining planes, are bad sub- 
stitutes for capacious play-grounds, good food, 
cheerful occupation, and frequent exercise in the 
open air. 

2. Hygienic measures involve a multitude of 
particulars essential to the preservation of health ; 
but the labouring classes, from the vicissitudes 
incident to their position, their ignorance, intem- 
perance and improvidence, are least able to attend 
to such. What more painful spectacle than to 
see them overwhelmed with indigence on a fertile 
soil : or what more miserable, than that a creature 
endowed with the attributes of humanity, should 
be compelled to beg from door to door, or to con- 
sume the meanest refuse ? Every working man 
ought to be well supplied with wholesome nourish- 
ment, clothing and fuel, as well as with clean and 
cheerful habitations. Eight hours daily, should 
be the maximum of severe bodily labour; the re- 
mainder might well be devoted to relaxation and 
mental improvement. It is difficult for those not 
engaged in it, to imagine the consuming nature 
of excessive toil, or how hard it is for those who 
are exposed to it — condemned to ignorance, and 
perhaps to discomfort, sickness and privation, to 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 10Q 

gain that expansion of intellect, and the enlarged 
benevolence, that would enable them to recognize 
their own best interests, and to look with sym- 
pathy on the progress of their fellows. Did the 
poor man's dwelling abound with the comforts for 
which he has a right to look; were he provided 
with instruction and recreation, he would be less 
inclined to seek the haunts of idleness and low 
debauchery. Why not have gardens, libraries, 
museums, lecture-rooms, picture-galleries, con- 
certs, baths and public grounds ? Frequent des- 
titution, cold, wet and hardship, render the 
working-classes liable to diseases of every kind. 
They are indeed, the peculiar victims of plague, 
pestilence and famine ; and I fear that hygienic 
measures will prove of inferior efficacy, until so- 
ciety can be subjected to such modifications, as 
will lead to the supply of all, contingently on their 
own exertions, with a sufficiency of the material 
comforts of life, and more especially, with moral 
and intellectual culture. For this it is, which 
elevates the condition of man, and without it, 
his position is degraded and defective. Human 
beings are not to be moulded at will, like the in- 
ferior animals ; nor can they be raised to the sta- 
tion to which they should aspire, until they can 
comprehend the measures by which it is to be 
realized, and participate in their fulfilment. 

3. It would be a libel on the Divine govern- 
ment, were the exercise of our faculties inade- 
quate to the supply of our wants. The lowest 
orders of creation are able to procure every thing 



110 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

that is necessary to their sustenance; and shall 
the noblest of earth's denizens, be inferior in this 
respect to the rest? Shall he who can command 
the elements, and turn them to his purposes, be 
unfit to secure his physical well-being ? This in- 
deed, is not so: man does possess every ne- 
cessary requisite. If he suffer distress, it must 
arise from the absent cultivation, or the misdirec- 
tion of his faculties. Were we provided for like 
the inferior animals by instincts, then, would our 
development cease. Our mental and bodily 
powers, and the capabilities of the various objects 
presented by nature, are unexhausted and inex- 
haustible. Who then, shall place a limit to the 
improvement of our species — who shall say, when 
the fruit-bearing earth shall produce no more ? 

Assuredly, every human being is entitled to 
support, when willing to make exertions equiva- 
lent to what he consumes; and as surely, the 
world is more than equal to the sustenance of its 
present inhabitants. The capabilities of the soil 
are commensurate with those of human beings; 
while the difficulties attendant on its cultivation, 
are adapted to the powers of our race ; neither 
opposing insuperable obstacles, nor yielding a 
harvest that has not been duly earned. The in- 
crease of population so far from adding to dis- 
tress, tends to multiply our resources. These 
again, can have no limit save the total occupation 
of the earth's surface. If mankind then, will 
confine themselves to localities where production 
has gone its utmost length, or if they will clog 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. Ill 

it with improper restrictions, is it wonderful if 
misery result? No extensive district is perhaps 
fully cultivated, and if population press upon the 
means of subsistence, it must arise from artificial, 
and consequently remediable causes. This is a 
conclusion which cannot be evaded, and sooner 
or later, men must arrive at principles which rea- 
son and observation dictate. 

I. The circumstances which have led to exist- 
ing destitution, are connected with the progress 
of society, with regard to which, individuals how- 
ever prominent their position, are but as links in 
the long chain of cause and effect. If it be granted 
that the exercise of our mental and bodily powers, 
ensures a supply of the goods of life, it follows 
that they should be cultivated in all, to the utmost, 
inasmuch, as we thereby best fulfil the intentions 
of nature, and avert the evils which press upon 
our race. Ignorance, ill-directed competition 
and opposing interests, lead some to avail them- 
selves of the services of others, without any fur- 
ther reference to their well-being, than what is 
sufficient to enable them to continue their toil. 
It is difficult to calculate the degradation ensuing 
from a relation, by which individuals are enabled 
to command the exertions of their fellows, with- 
out any adequate return ; yet this is a position to 
which most, if not all, aspire. Nurtured in pre- 
judice as we are, we do not perceive that no hu- 
man being, morally speaking, is entitled to live 
at the expense of another. Every one is bound 
in equity, to make a return for what he consumes. 



112 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

To reciprocate benefits is an obligation tbat can- 
not be violated with impunity. Body and mind 
are insufficiently cultivated, while the remunera- 
tion of labour is inadequate. The capabilities of 
all should be developed to the utmost, while every 
kind of useful labour should be duly rewarded. 
Why subject any one to hardships not contin- 
gent on his calling — why curtail mental cultiva- 
tion or rational enjoyment? Until the crying 
injustice of underpaying, and above all, of under- 
educating working men, shall wholly cease, neither 
can the misery to which it leads, be remedied. It 
is an error to suppose that mental and moral 
training should create any disinclination to useful 
industry. The more clear-sighted our under- 
standings and our moral faculties, so much the 
more obvious will our duties become. Labour 
has been degraded by ignorance and vice: let 
this unnatural union cease, and the ignominy will 
continue no more. In itself, it is purely virtu- 
ous, nor has it ever been regarded in an improper 
light, when allied with education or elevated sta- 
tion. Were well-directed exertion of body and 
mind united, the erroneous associations by which 
the former is lowered, would for ever cease. 

The artisan unacquainted with useful know- 
ledge, feels the evils of his lot, but knows not how 
to remedy them. Superior feelings, and the refine- 
ments of humanity, are not adequately awakened 
in his breast; he is consequently, too often 
improvident, thoughtless and sensual — in a word, 
subject to the vices and the miseries of which in- 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 113 

sufficient mental and moral culture proves the 
source. When an individual goes into the labour 
market to purchase the powers of his fellows, 
he gives the conventional price, generally the 
smallest on which the seller is able to subsist. 
The latter is in his employer's hands, and has no 
resource but to work or starve : if he do not ac- 
cept the proffered award, another fills his place. 
Yet the rational well-being of any portion of the 
community, can never prove injurious to the rest. 
Well-meaning persons are sometimes apprehen- 
sive, as to the results that might accrue from the 
better education of the working-classes, but their 
anticipations are unfounded: it is ignorance and 
sensuality, not knowledge or refinement, that we 
have to dread. 

II. Every one is anxious to obtain labour on 
the lowest terms, since whatever adds to the cost 
of production, tends to the diminution of profit. 
The competition of merchants hinders the rise of 
wages; it has therefore, become the pecuniary 
interest of the former to bring them down to the 
lowest pitch. Labour may procure the meanest 
necessaries, but nothing beyond. Its price is 
everywhere depreciated, and any nation that 
should attempt to raise it, would in so far, be ex- 
cluded from the commerce of the world. This 
however, is a small matter ; the supply of do- 
mestic, being of much more importance than that 
of foreign consumption. The competition of 
masters and men, has led to the introduction of 
machinery so perfect, as much to lessen the de- 

H 



114 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

mand for manual labour. Thus, the earnings of 
the operative are farther reduced, while his situa- 
tion is rendered still more precarious. With 
every improvement in machinery, and every in- 
crease of the supply beyond the mercantile de- 
mand, numbers are pitilessly thrown out of 
employment. To abolish machinery however, 
is neither practicable nor desirable. With better 
arrangements, by relieving us of painful and mo- 
notonous drudgery, it would leave time for moral 
and intellectual improvement. Its present agency 
is of a mixed nature ; but we may hope, that in 
time, the good will increase, and that the evil will 
diminish and die away. 

III. The instrument of exchange need possess 
no intrinsic value : paper may be made to answer 
every useful purpose. Produce indeed, could not 
be reciprocated so far, had the precious metals 
been the only medium. The advantages how- 
ever, hitherto accruing from a paper currency, 
are inferior to those that would result from its 
more general introduction. I do not speak of a 
banking system, with an exclusive reference to 
private interests, but of a guarded circulation of 
paper money, subordinate to production and ex- 
change. Under every aspect, a bullion currency 
is imperfect, costly, and ill suited to the wants of 
a civilized community. 

IV. National debts are among the anomalies 
of modern finance ; in no country however, has 
this device been carried so far as in our own. By 
many, it has been looked upon as replete with 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 115 

ruin, but this is an error. The equity of a na- 
tional debt is one thing, its financial working 
another; and though rarely to be justified, its in- 
fluence on commerce and industry is often bene- 
ficial. Production is in the ratio of the demand 
of those who have the means to purchase. The 
producer intervenes between the distributor and 
the consumer, bearing the orders of the one to 
the other, and encouraging production, not so 
much in the ratio of its powers, or with regard to 
the actual wants of the community, as with refe- 
rence to those who can pay for what they con- 
sume. A national debt, as well as taxation in 
general, by placing funds in the hands of those 
who would otherwise be destitute of them, en- 
courages both production and consumption, just 
as any other agent, that would occasion a further 
demand on the exhaustless powers of labour and 
capital. The nominal cost of the poor man's ne- 
cessaries is increased by taxation. Different 
causes keep down the price of labour to the lowest 
that is adequate to the support of nature. The 
operative must receive his pittance, whether corn 
be taxed or not ; and as bread is dear or cheap, 
his wages rise or sink accordingly. The tax falls 
not so much on him, as on the capital that would 
remain in so far unturned, in the coffers of the 
merchant. Thus, undue taxation, though de- 
serving of reprobation, by placing funds in the 
hands of those, who render no specific service in 
return, is not so directly injurious to the labourer, 
as some have been led to suppose. So far as 



116 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

foreign commerce indeed, is concerned, taxes, by 
increasing the price of manufactured articles, 
throw the balance against the trader. We shall 
not be able to produce so economically, as nations 
who have cheaper bread ; the merchant in so far, 
is mulcted of his profits, but the condition of the 
labourer will remain much as before. Although 
unnecessary taxation is utterly to be deprecated, 
the mere abolition of a national debt, no other 
substantial relief accompanying it, would but de- 
press the workman still farther in the social scale. 
If ever the bulk of mankind is to be elevated — if 
ever the producer is to rise above his present de- 
graded state, it must be by different, as well as 
much more comprehensive measures. 

V. The occupation and cultivation of the soil 
are matters of extreme inportance. As we derive 
our sustenance from it, so the title to its produc- 
tions, has everywhere been the object of a multi- 
tude of enactments. Strictly speaking indeed, 
we can no more appropriate the surface of the 
earth, than we can the winds of heaven, or the 
waters of the sea. If existing arrangements con- 
stitute any criterion, it must be admitted, that the 
accumulation of land in the hands of a few, does 
not seem on the whole, well adapted to the pro- 
motion of human well-being. Lasting improve- 
ments however, are only to be effected by the 
general consent, matured and directed by know- 
ledge and experience. Time alone, can demon- 
strate the practicability of any proposed plans, for 
the better distribution of the earth's produce. 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 117 

The progress of society is ever onward, and it is 
pleasant and profitable, to speculate on the mea- 
sures that are calculated to promote the happiness 
of posterity, if not to increase our own. 

VI. The property which characterizes capital 
of lending itself any number of times, to facilitate 
production, does not appear sufficiently appre- 
ciated. Were it adequately turned to account, 
production, distribution and consumption, would 
acquire an impetus that must otherwise remain 
unknown. This is the real problem of political 
economy, hitherto so exclusively occupied in the 
solution of the intricacies of commerce, as almost 
to have taken it for granted that they required no 
fundamental amendment. Until it is solved, a 
correct theory of production and consumption 
cannot be realized; nor can political economy 
assume that station among the sciences, which it 
is entitled to occupy. 

4. Relief for the working-classes may be di- 
vided into the imperfect and temporary, and the 
perfect and permanent. Among the first, are 
poor laws, poor colonies, commercial and manu- 
facturing arrangements, reduced taxation, emi- 
gration and savings. Poor laws have long existed 
in England: to the destitute they afford inade- 
quate relief, while they sometimes extend it to 
those who are not in need. Poor colonies might be 
useful among an ignorant and ill-supplied popu- 
lation. The waste lands of these countries, might 
thus furnish employment for very many years to 
come. The produce however, should be expended 



118 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

on the workers, as it would otherwise, deprive 
just so many of employment as it would relieve. 
I. Few things are more sanguinely believed, 
than that the extension of commerce and manu- 
factures would be a sufficient remedy for public 
distress. This however, is to take a part for the 
whole; and the concurrence of poverty with ex- 
tended commerce, shews that the latter is not the 
remedy for which we are to seek. While the 
profits of capitalists have increased, the wages 
of labour have diminished: national prosperity 
however, must extend to all, and not to a part. 
It is for the interests of the community, that as 
many as possible should be engaged in production ; 
hence, the employment of multitudes in a mere 
money traffic, is in so far injurious. The pro- 
duce of labour cannot indeed, find its way to the 
consumer without hands : but would it not be de- 
sirable that there were fewer distributors, and 
more producers, and that the profits and comforts 
expended on the superfluous numbers of the 
former, should remain in the possession of the 
latter? The same may be said of those engaged 
in the fabrication of luxuries; for although the 
production of corn and other necessaries is thereby 
indirectly stimulated, it is certain that this would 
not be less so, were useful employments substi- 
tuted. Taxes, however great, sink into insigni- 
ficance when contrasted with the drafts made 
upon productive industry by bankers, merchants, 
shop-keepers and money-dealers generally. Pro- 
duction is doubtless increased, but this would be 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 119 

equally the case, were those whose services are not 
required as distributors, engaged in useful labour 
of body or mind. Wages absolutely, as well as 
relatively, are less than formerly, and no longer 
procure the same amount of the necessaries of 
life : high, during the war, the artisan, while he 
enjoyed comparative comfort, was able to meet 
the foreign and domestic demand with ease. 
Afterwards, these enormous capabilities no longer 
found a vent ; applications of machinery before 
unknown, could not be relinquished, and much to 
the distress of the working-classes, the circulation 
of capital, and the remuneration of labour, under- 
went a remarkable diminution. If means could 
have been devised to maintain production and 
consumption at the war level, these results would 
not have ensued. This is the problem, which 
theoretically and practically, has to be solved, 
before the condition of the operatives can be 
placed upon a basis of permanent prosperity. 
Until then, relative over-production will be fol- 
lowed by gluts and general distress, in a long- 
revolving series. Industry, commerce and manu- 
factures, cannot otherwise lead to their naturally 
beneficial results. It is a home-market that we 
require, and not one merely at the Antipodes. 
One that is unbounded exists close at hand, in 
the necessities of numberless individuals, able and 
willing, under proper arrangements, to yield the 
fullest return for all that they require. 

II. Taxation is not the greatest source of pub- 
lic distress, its diminution therefore, is but an 



120 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

imperfect remedy. That which is most oppres- 
sive, is the taxation contingent on an imperfect 
system of production, distribution and consump- 
tion. As to emigration, it may prove a collateral, 
but not a fundamental means of relief. Another 
expedient is saving. The recommendation is 
excellent, but insufficient to meet the evil: good 
to a certain extent, but impotent beyond. Than 
temperance, economy and industry, nothing can 
be more excellent ; but how has the labourer been 
fitted for these virtues ? Driven perhaps, to his 
calling at an early age ; unprovided with moral 
or intellectual culture; his faculties repressed, 
and perhaps, exposed to an atmosphere of vice, 
who has taught him sobriety and forecast, or that 
rigid self-denial, without which he cannot rise in 
the social scale? The practice of these, under 
depressing circumstances, involves superior moral 
excellence, and no sufficient provision has been 
made for imparting it? With respect to the 
great body of the working- classes, the remunera- 
tion is so inferior, and the exposure to ill health, 
accident, and want of employment, so frequent, 
that the daily pittance is often insufficient to pro- 
cure the meanest necessaries, much less to afford 
scope for saving. It is a rigid economy that 
would practise it, and support a family, pay for 
education, rent and clothing, on a shilling a day. 
Saving however, is but a choice of difficulties, 
since it were better for the labourer to expend 
judiciously, the greater part of what he could 
earn. The principle seems in a measure, to have 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 121 

been perverted, and a matter of necessity repre- 
sented as one of choice. It is not intended how- 
ever, to condemn these precautions, but only to 
urge their insufficiency. Would that working 
men could be incited to act upon them ; that they 
would practise industry, economy and forethought, 
and strive to better their condition by the means 
within their grasp. Mechanics and others, might 
undoubtedly, hoard a portion of their earnings 
against days of adversity, sickness and old age; 
but unhappily, what from deficient education, 
corrupt example, and other causes, they omit 
doing so. I am the more disposed to dwell upon 
these laudable recommendations, imperfect though 
they be, inasmuch as they involve precepts equally 
available in every condition, whether adverse or 
prosperous — precepts, the practice of which, is no 
less necessary in the depression of poverty, than 
in any conceivable elevation which the friends of 
humanity have ventured to anticipate. 

III. Without dwelling on friendly societies, 
insurances, tontines, and other expedients, I shall 
enlarge on some, that promise a better prospect 
of success. Writers on political economy, have 
with much acuteness, unravelled the intricacies 
attendant on the production and distribution of 
wealth, but they do not in general, propose any 
adequate remedy for existing evils, save the ac- 
cumulation and circulation of capital. These, 
doubtless, are good; but the defective position, 
limited education, and inferior remuneration of the 
labourer, exclude him in a great measure, from 



122 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

their adoption. The reward of labour is all too 
small, and the means of increasing it, should oc- 
cupy a larger share of attention than they have 
hitherto done. 

IV. It was long since proposed to remodel so- 
ciety on the principle of joint possessions; and a 
noted Greek writer has advocated it, with the 
absurd and unnatural addition of a community 
of women. It is not difficult to conceive a state 
of things in which money in its present form, 
might prove unnecessary ; but it must be long 
indeed, ere this method of noting the produce of 
industry, and the amount of exchanges, can be 
dispensed with. Community of property, to an 
extent that does not now subsist, and so far as 
the necessaries of life are concerned, appears 
very compatible with a high degree of civiliza- 
tion. A partnership could be extended to a town 
or a village, as well as to a company of merchants ; 
and the social arrangements of united masses, 
might be as readily formed as those of an ordinary 
family. The principle seems peculiarly applicable 
to working men, and to persons with limited 
means, while it would secure a supply of comforts 
which the expenditure contingent on isolated 
establishments, forbids. A judicious application 
of the various resources opened out by modern 
discoveries — as the records of some public insti- 
tutions shew, would singularly diminish the outlay 
to which individuals are subject. The division 
of labour would cause business to be better done, 
while the members of communities would ensure 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 123 

each other against avoidable casualties, and yield 
a support to orphans, widows, and those disabled 
by age, accident or disease. Superior facilities 
would exist for education, adult instruction and 
rational education, as well as fewer appliances for 
licentious indulgence or unwarrantable superfluity. 
The pleasures of social intercourse — aid, consola- 
tion and advice, would be multiplied, to an extent 
that now subsists for none : in fine, there are no 
advantages, that with intelligence and moral 
energy, would not be attainable by all. People 
however, may draw their food and clothing from 
a common store, or they may divide and possess 
them individually, but all this is of small moment, 
compared with being able to obtain enough of the 
necessaries of life. In the enjoyment of these, it 
is of little importance whether food is consumed, 
by twos and threes in family apartments, or by 
companies of hundreds in ample halls — the great 
thing is to have enough. A supply adequate to 
all the wants of human beings, might be achieved 
by a better arrangement of production and con- 
sumption, as connected with an improved system 
of currency. The realization of this is of vastly 
more importance, than that of all the plans which 
have ever been issued, could possibly be without 
it. The best measures indeed, will be liable to 
abuse ; those however, which include as an in- 
gredient, the cultivation of the higher qualities of 
humanity, cannot be essentially defective. It 
only imports us to know whether they be correct, 
and if so, practicable and desirable. 



124 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

V. If we look around, we perceive multitudes 
in want of the comforts, and in many cases, of 
the necessaries of life: we also find the busy 
classes imperfectly employed, or occupied with 
pursuits that do not promote production. Every 
one desires a competence, but in place of trying 
to produce it directly, engages in the mere pur- 
suit of money under the disadvantages of a pain- 
ful competition. Persons in every profession are 
anxious for employment, and the means of sup- 
port, too often without obtaining either. The 
lawyer, the clergyman, the physician, the clerk, 
the shop-keeper, the artisan and the labourer, cry 
out with one voice for employment. Yet, since 
all would obtain what each is able to yield, how 
does it happen that so many are destitute ? The 
answer is short — it is owing to the present form 
of production, distribution and consumption. This 
state of things is universal, for in no single spot 
are the necessities of human beings fully satisfied. 
The powers of man to minister to his wants are 
prodigious, yet imperfect commercial regulations, 
and above all, a defective education, prevent their 
being anywhere properly exerted. Whence this 
degradation in the midst of enormous capabili- 
ties — capabilities that may vary, but which can 
never be exhausted in any clime ? Faulty arrange- 
ments can be the only origin. Could production 
be made the measure of demand, industry would 
receive a boundless impetus, and supplies would 
flow in, commensurately with the utmost range 
of consumption. The creation of comforts and 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 125 

necessaries at present, is incalculably repressed, 
inasmuch as individuals cannot and will not exert 
themselves without the prospect of a return. 
Without custom, the artisan need not work, or if 
he do, the produce of his industry meets a linger- 
ing sale. This ought not to be : society should 
be so organized, that every one might be certain 
of a return. The inadequacy of a metallic cur- 
rency is acknowledged by the introduction of 
paper; but the advantages accruing from this, 
have been lessened by making the paper the re- 
presentative of the stored-up gold. On the con- 
trary, it should directly represent the produce of 
labour, increasing or diminishing with production 
itself. It should come into circulation on no other 
terms, and for no other object. A currency thus 
regulated, would serve all the purposes of distri- 
bution : many of the evils connected with the pre- 
sent framework of society would be cut off; im- 
poverished industry would exist no more, nor the 
sale of virtue by those, who too often barter it to 
obtain a morsel of bread. The power of riches 
to do good would be increased, while their capa- 
bilities for working evil, would be diminished. 

VI. A method has been recently proposed^ 
which, if it could be realized, would seem to pro- 
mise many of the advantages contingent on a 
superior system of exchange. Receptacles are 
to be formed in every town, village and district, 
for the reception of produce whether agricultural 
or commercial. Connected with these, are to be re- 
tail establishments, abounding with every thing 



126 ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 

that the wants of purchasers suggest. A central 
directory is to secure the reciprocation of foreign 
and domestic produce. Bullion in coins or ounces, 
is to be an article of commerce, but not a specific 
medium of exchange. This is to be effected by 
means of a paper currency alone. When pro- 
duce is bought or sold, such a per-centage is to 
be charged on each transaction, as will serve to 
cover expenses. The money is to have no intrin- 
sic value beyond that of the paper composing it, 
and no contingent or representative one, until it 
has been issued; while the nominal value of the 
notes is to be governed by the current value of 
the different commodities, and the increased or 
diminished facilities which exist for producing 
them. Such notes are to be applied to all the 
existing purposes of money, such as distribution, 
savings, and the maintenance of families. Pro- 
duce would find a sale commensurate with pro- 
duction itself, while the market would be ready, 
and employment unlimited. The amount and 
the quality of goods would be regulated by public 
opinion as now, without any derangement of the 
habits of mankind. A provision would be made 
for a home market, to an extent hitherto unex- 
ampled, and every facility for foreign exchanges; 
while production would surpass the war level, but 
without the evils of war, or the formation of a 
national debt. 

It would appear difficult to secure the advan- 
tages derivable from an increased circulation of 
capital, short of some alteration, more or less 



ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 127 

analogous to that above mentioned. Human ca- 
pabilities operating on the materials existing in 
nature, only require judicious training to entail 
boundless prosperity. The prevailing system 
permits many advantages, but it does not exclude 
poverty, nor frequent and miserable distress. In 
every direction, we behold mankind in a state of 
prostration, infinitely below the condition which 
has been left open to them ; yet there are endless 
discussions, and a wasting of the noblest energies, 
in behalf of useless, if not equivocal expedients. 
While politicians dispute, the poor perish. As- 
suredly, when measures that tend to benefit all, 
and to injure none, are proposed, they should 
meet with attentive and dispassionate considera- 
tion. The reward of labour is insufficient to pro- 
cure the comforts and necessaries of life — to guard 
against contingencies — to provide for a family, or 
to ensure the means of mental and moral culture. 
Most of the plans afloat, do not promise to in- 
crease it ; yet unless this be done, how is civiliza- 
tion to advance? The rich are able to secure 
their own interests, but the operative classes pass 
their lives in an alternation of vicissitudes, any- 
thing but favourable to reflection and moral 
energy. The desiderata which their situation 
demands, are steady employment, the conversion 
at pleasure of the fruits of their industry into 
equivalent produce, a superior education for their 
children, and their own elevation in the scale of 
humanity. Artisans of every country, should 
form themselves into a moral association, for the 



128 ON PHYSICAL PERFECTIBILITY. 

promotion of their just rights. It is impossible 
for intellectual or moral excellence to ask any- 
thing that shall be incompatible with either, or 
that the real interests of the working classes and 
their peaceful prosecution, should ever be at 
variance with the well-being of society at large. 
They must assist themselves : they must be honest, 
frugal and laborious; confiding in the justice of 
their cause, and well assured of the sympathy and 
support, of every thinking mind, and rightly con- 
stituted heart. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

ON THE PHYSICAL PERFECTIBILITY AND IMPROVE- 
MENT OF MANKIND. 



The physical perfectibility of which our race 
is capable, is a question of deep interest. If we 
scrutinize the organizations of those around, we 
find it in many cases, unhealthy and defective. 
Some give way under circumstances that occasion 
no change in others. Many pass through life, in 
the enjoyment of considerable health and strength, 
who nevertheless transmit to their offspring, a 
constitution that yields to morbid influences. The 
advance of civilization, by causing a better supply 
of the necessaries of life ; by lessening hardship, 
exposure to cold, damp, want, foul air and the 



ON PHYSICAL PERFECTIBILITY. 12Q 

influence of depressing passions, as well as by 
securing a sufficiency of warm clothing, fuel, 
food, drink, shelter, and early medical attendance, 
leads to a beneficial change in the material fa- 
bric. Any thing that diminishes the frequency 
of disease — that promotes temperance, cleanli- 
ness and forecast, perfects the organization. 
Sufficient exposure to atmospheric vicissitudes; 
a certain alternation in food, and varied, yet mo- 
derate exertion, conduce to the preservation of 
health and vigour. If exposure however, be 
protracted beyond physical endurance; if the 
supply of food be scanty and bad, or if there be 
excessive bodily effort, disease inevitably results. 
Grief and wretchedness diminish, while cheer- 
fulness and hilarity promote our powers. In 
childhood and youth especially, injurious moral 
and physical agents operate with the greatest 
force. It is then, before the joints are knit, or 
the constitution fully formed, that the causes 
just mentioned, produce their worst results. Any 
one who visits the narrow courts and lanes that 
abound in large towns, will witness the cheerless 
aspect which infancy there presents. He will 
see little children, stunted, rickety, pale and ema- 
ciated ; affected with glandular enlargements, and 
almost necessarily doomed, to a miserable, sickly 
existence, and to premature decay. We cannot 
doubt, that if a knowledge of the structure and 
functions of the human frame, and of the different 
injurious and beneficial agents by which we are 
surrounded from birth to the grave, made a part 

i 



130 ON PHYSICAL PERFECTIBILITY. 

of early instruction, it would vastly redound to 
the increase of health and happiness. A supe- 
rior moral and intellectual education, would 
prove contingently useful, by the introduction of 
refined gratifications in place of sensual excesses. 
It would teach people to make a better provision 
for their wants, both immediate and prospective, 
as well as open out a multitude of resources that 
are now overlooked. Can we doubt that the 
continued operation of superior agencies, would 
effect the most salutary changes in the condition 
of our race, and that what the few now are — 
healthy, vigorous and robust, all might eventually 
become ? We need not expect that the corporeal 
attributes of our successors, should much exceed 
the present standard of health and strength, or 
that the longevity of our race should be indefi- 
nitely protracted. Doubtless, the mean duration 
of human life shall hereafter be prolonged ; but 
then, as now, the healthiest organization will 
measure its time, and if not so frequently cut 
short by accident and disease, must nevertheless 
arrive at its term, by the wearing out of the ma- 
chinery, and the exhaustion of the powers of life. 



The different points most closely connected 
with our physical constitution and well-being, 
have now been gone over — the nature of sensa- 
tion and its various divisions ; the relations of our 
senses with the phenomenal world; the wonder- 



ON PHYSICAL PERFECTIBILITY. 131 

ful structure and functions of our frames ; organic 
causation ; the influence of circumstances on our 
organization — its incessant mutations and final 
dissolution ; the hest means of supplying animal 
wants, and lastly, the tendency of our organiza- 
tion to progressive improvement. It therefore, 
remains to treat in succession, of the nature and 
relations of our intellectual and moral being. 



END OF PART I. 



PART II. 

HUMAN NATURE IN ITS INTELLECTUAL 
RELATIONS. 



CHAPTER XV. 



ON THE MIND, AND ON THE ORIGIN AND NATURE 
OF OUR IDEAS AND FACULTIES. 



1. What the mind is, its seat and nature, are 
questions that have been often asked, and va- 
riously replied to. Of the mind in itself, we can 
know nothing beyond what consciousness teaches 
us. The eye of the anatomist has not detected 
it, and never shall. It is not an object of sense, 
and it is vain to look for it as such. If the mind 
of man eludes the search, need we feel surprised 
that we cannot directly perceive the intellectual 
nature of a higher order of beings, or that of the 
Supreme Ruler of all? Him we cannot see, nor 
hear — but his wonderful, his precious works be- 
speak his power, his wisdom and his goodness. 

Mind, soul and understanding then, are names 
for our various states of consciousness, as well as 
for the thing which undergoes them. Sensation 



134 ON THE MIND. 

is a mental act, but it is not the same as an idea 
or an emotion. The former is sometimes called 
an objective, the latter, a subjective form of con- 
sciousness. How these phenomena take place, 
and by what means the soul is able to distinguish 
between them, we do not know. We may ru- 
minate on our intellectual faculties, and record 
their operations, but we cannot tell the manner 
of their performance. Let it not be imagined 
that metaphysics therefore, are nugatory: all 
science is useful, but a knowledge of the ope- 
rations of the human soul, is supremely so. The 
science of mind forms the basis of education, 
legislation and morals : it is the criterion of truth 
in numerous matters of vital importance ; it in- 
volves the consideration of the being and provi- 
dence of the Deity, and of all that is good and 
great in humanity ; it is the invincible and never- 
ceasing opponent of ignorance and error, and 
under God, the guarantee of man's advance in 
wisdom, knowledge and happiness. 

Ideas are derived from the operation of the 
senses, whether internal or external — from all 
the organs in fine : those by which our existence 
is preserved, and those by which we maintain our 
relations with the phenomenal world. Indepen- 
dent of the passive reception of ideas, we have 
it in our power to recal our previous knowledge, 
and to repeat the experience of others. To de- 
rive the greatest advantage from conventional 
marks however, as in written or spoken language, 
we must have gained a sufficient stock of elemen- 



ON THE MIND. 135 

tary ideas. Were it not for this, the information 
of others would in some measure, be lost to us. 
Thus, the inhabitants of warm countries find it 
difficult to conceive the idea of ice, or persons 
who have not been to sea, to understand mari- 
time affairs. Mix our ideas as we may, we can 
but combine and re combine the copies of our 
sensations. Our primary sensations though nu- 
merous in themselves, are few compared with the 
ideas of which they are the source. Most of the 
former perhaps, are experienced before the age 
of twenty; hence, in part, the oneness and the 
communicability, of human feeling and informa- 
tion. Without this arrangement, men would be 
as effectually estranged, as if each were the in- 
habitant of a different planet. Thus, the com- 
mon constitution of our nature, while it secures 
the intercourse and the very existence of human 
beings, enables us to reciprocate our knowledge 
and our emotions. 

I. The idea of space is derived from extension. 
If we reflect upon the latter, as common to all 
bodies, it becomes an abstraction ; but if we think 
of a given body as extended, the term is a con- 
crete. Abstract or concrete, as we look upon 
extension as the attribute of an individual body, 
or of bodies in general. By association, we 
transfer the abstraction — extension namely, to 
the space which bodies occupy. Without expe- 
rience of matter, we never could have framed the 
idea of room or space. When once, we arrive 
at the conception of the latter, as co-existent with 



136 ON THE MIND. 

the dimensions of body, we easily proceed to the 
supposition that worlds without end, might be 
piled together; hence, the idea of infinite space. 

II. The ideas which we derive from vision, are 
very important. A sensation of colour, with the 
inseparably associated idea of extension, is one 
modification of consciousness, while the recollec- 
tion of it, is another. We cannot conceive how 
two forms so similar, yet so distinct, are produced. 
To confuse them, would be insanity or disease. 
The vast utility of vision, the multiplication of 
our being to which it leads, its amazing union 
with the recollected perception of touch, and the 
revelation which it makes of countless worlds, 
place the ideas which we derive from it, in a very 
conspicuous light. Hence it is, that they are so 
incessantly floating in the chambers of the mind, 
as in the recollection of written words, of books, 
food, plants, flowers, animals and men. If the 
imagination convey us to some distant region, or 
far-off city, visual ideas are the agents. We wit- 
ness the vegetation, rocks and mountains, in 
the one case, and the towns, streets and busy 
throng of men, in the other. And even with re- 
gard to that future, which we hope and trust to 
reach, the glad fancy delights to trace the immea- 
surable fields of ether, the glowing stars, the gor- 
geous clouds of heaven, and the glorious congre- 
gation of happy intelligent existences. 

III. The countless varieties of tone to be 
found in nature, are accurately appreciated by 
the ear, and taken cognizance of by the mind. 



ON THE MIND. 137 

Thus, the latter recals the organ's peal or the 
cannon's roar, the hum of the bee or the rapid 
transitions of the human voice. The wide range 
of memory with regard to sound, is attested in 
the acquisition of languages. A perpetual recur- 
rence of the same sounds, is secured by the si- 
milar constitution of the organs of speech: a 
beautiful provision, and one, by which the inter- 
course of human beings is largely facilitated. By 
means of conventional marks, the utility of the 
ear is marvellously enhanced. Reading is a lux- 
ury — a refinement, but speech is indispensable. 
We see intelligent mutes indeed, but such have 
been instructed by those who could speak. The 
exhaustless wisdom and goodness of the Deity, 
are shewn by making the same organ an agent of 
secondary, as well as of primary instruction. 

IV. Sensations of smell and taste appear to 
possess very imperfect mental representatives ; in 
other words, we find it difficult to remember them. 
When the sensation is present however, we recol- 
lect with ease, whether we have felt it before. 
The epicure recurs with pleasure to his favourite 
dish; for although in one sense, he cannot recal 
the flavour, he does not forget the satisfaction 
which it afforded him. In ill-health, we often ex- 
perience disagreeable, and sometimes pleasant 
odours and savours, when no object is present to 
excite them. During our dream-life also, we pos- 
sess a faculty of which we are destitute when 
awake. The famished man then partakes of 
costly viands, and relishes his imaginary fare 



138 ON THE MIND. 

with not less keenness, than if he actually en- 
joyed it. Other sensations also, are re-awakened 
with a distinctness that seems reality while it 
lasts ; ravishing harmonies enchant the ear, while 
widely-extended landscapes float before the eye. 
The sensations under consideration, do not fur- 
nish much food for intellectual life, except as ve- 
hicles of agreeable associations. The perfume of 
flowers, recals many a varied emotion of the past, 
while the pleasures of the table are connected 
with those of social life. Sensations of smell and 
taste are innumerable ; most organic, and many 
inorganic substances exciting them. 

V. Touch, though perfectly distinct, is usually 
consentaneous with muscular motion ; hence, the 
one is apt to be mixed up with the other. This 
sense resides in the whole cutaneous surface ; in 
the mouth and fauces, and perhaps, in the inter- 
nal surface of the intestinal canal. There is also 
a general sentiency, more or less referable to it. 
The remembrance of sensations of touch is not 
very copious. Even the perception of heat or 
cold, and the pain attendant on laceration or dis- 
organization, leave no distinct traces in the me- 
mory. Our mental constitution, our pleasures 
and our pains, are made up of comparatively few 
particulars, and do not appear to involve the re- 
collection of the sensations of every organ. Hence, 
when we would refer to such, we do it by names 
individually applicable, but which do not relate 
to any mental analogues. If a given sense be 
wanting, so are the ideas of which it is the ordi- 



ON THE MIND. 139 

nary source. The consciousness of one who is 
blind, is deficient in ideas of vision ; but as the 
phenomena involved in the motion of light, re- 
semble some which come under the scrutiny of 
other senses, there will be a knowledge of various 
facts of which the eye is the usual inlet. Thus, 
Saunderson could lecture with precision on op- 
tics, and Euler continue his occupations to an 
advanced age. Organic impressions are more 
or less convertible, while deficiencies are lessened 
by the kind offices of our fellows. The absence 
of one or more senses, proportionably incapaci- 
tates the mind. This, still exists with all its glo- 
rious capabilities, but the means of improvement 
are wanting. The incurably deaf, dumb and 
blind, have no hope in this world: their sun of 
knowledge is eclipsed, and cannot reveal its 
splendour, till the hand of death has torn away 
their shackles for ever. 

We could form no conception of time, inde- 
pendent of the phenomena which come within the 
range of our experience. We take a given action 
as unity, and measure others in relation to it. 
If we consider duration apart from any particu- 
lar act, we arrive at the abstract idea of time. 
Our idea of infinite time, is derived from that of 
the unlimited prolongation of any of the pheno- 
mena which come under our cognizance. Thus, 
if we conceive the revolutions of the earth round 
the sun, say a million of times, we find no diffi- 
culty in imagining their continuance a million of 
times longer, and so on, in a perpetually increas- 



140 ON THE MIND. 

ing series without end. Without periodicity, we 
could form no conception of time. The idea of 
a measure, is forced upon us in every direction, 
and in every possible way. Organic growth and 
deca}^; the revolutions of the heavenly bodies; 
summer and winter ; day and night, and the ebb 
and flow of the sea, are phenomena that could 
not fail to fix the attention of mankind from the 
earliest period. Hence, the universal expedient 
of marking occurrences, by the revolutions of the 
moon, and the diurnal and annual motions of the 
earth. The idea of time, is one of the most interest- 
ing connected with our mental constitution* It 
enters into our calculations from the earliest dawn 
of intelligence, to its latest display. Human labour, 
and the value of all earthly possessions, as well as 
of existence itself, are regulated by it. Duration is 
the attribute of eternity, and its absence, the evi- 
dence of the transitory and perishable nature of 
life. Time is alike the measure of sorrow and of 
joy, enhancing the one and aggravating the other. 
Dwell upon it as we may, it is impossible to esti- 
mate its importance with sufficient earnestness, or 
adequately, to sum up its mighty influence. 

VII. Of the errors which have arisen from 
ignorance of our mental constitution, the most 
remarkable is the belief in innate ideas. It was 
supposed impossible for conceptions so abstract 
and complicated, as time, space, eternity, power, 
virtue and justice, to be derived from sensation ; 
and it was only after long-continued observation 
and painful induction, that their real nature was 



ON THE MIND. 141 

detected. We experience surprise when we re- 
view the subtilties of the schoolmen, or the bitter 
quarrels of realists and nominalists, and regret 
that so much talent and erudition, should have 
been thrown away. The question of innate ideas 
has been agitated up to a recent period, and even 
yet, finds adherents. It would be fruitless to enter 
into their history, from the time of Plato until 
that of Kant. The groundless entities with which 
both have peopled the mind, render their writings 
very imperfect vehicles of instruction : and if we 
subject their views to the searching scrutiny of 
modern analysis, we shall find their dimensions 
considerably curtailed. An explanation of the 
phenomena of consciousness was intrusted to 
human sagacity; which, although it has often erred, 
and still errs, returns like a baffled hound on the 
track, till the knowledge sought for, is traced to 
its sacred lair. Though the philosophy of the 
human mind — the noblest and best, has not suc- 
ceeded in casting off its fetters, it must eventually, 
like the other sciences, in virtue of its very pro- 
gress in the face of opposing obstacles, effect its 
entire, and never after to be invaded freedom. 

2. Of all the faculties with which we have 
been gifted, association is the most comprehen- 
sive. It multiplies our existence to an immea- 
surable extent, and could only have been devised 
and made a part of our being, by the power which 
governs all things. The advantages which we 
derive from the union of sensations, ideas and 
emotions, could not otherwise have been expe- 



142 ON THE MIND. 

rienced. We know not how the process is ef- 
fected, but we have ample evidence of its results. 
Exaggeration is here at fault, since it is impos- 
sible to overrate its importance. The utility 
of language both written and spoken, is to be 
ascribed to association; while to it also, taste, 
imagination, judgment, memory and anticipation, 
owe their peculiar forms, and often their existence. 
Customs, prejudices, opinions and creeds, derive 
much of their force and permanence from its in- 
fluence. The difference between man and man 
in various countries, ages and stations, is largely 
to be referred to the operation of this prevailing 
principle. Even the choice of our pursuits, and 
the energy with which we attend to them, are 
largely biassed by previous association. This 
faculty however, will combine, but it cannot cre- 
ate; it must have a foundation upon which to 
erect its wonderful superstructure. 

Repetition, recency and vividness, are things 
which strike us with regard to association. Their 
bare enunciation indeed, calls up the conviction 
of their influence. By repetition, any given idea, 
and to a certain extent, sensations and emotions, 
are rendered comparatively permanent, and easier 
of recurrence. We may repeat, if with indiffer- 
ence, a passage any number of times, without re- 
membering it; let the attention however, be 
strongly directed, and the subject is rivetted in 
the memory. The formation of an association is 
amazingly facilitated by the vividness of the in- 
cluded circumstances. An individual rarely for- 



ON THE MIND. 143 

gets the spot which has been consecrated by the 
confession of his first affections ; the soldier can- 
not lose the remembrance of the battle-field, or 
the sailor, the place where he escaped shipwreck 
and death. One of the reasons why we recol- 
lect so readily, the events of early years, is their 
interesting character ; yet how numerous the in- 
cidents of this very period, which wholly escape 
the memory? Children and old people are heed- 
less for a similar reason; awaken the attention, 
and the faculty just named, forthwith performs 
its part. Independent of daily occurrences, we 
enjoy the satisfaction of retrospective, as well as 
of prospective association. Pleasure however, 
is not the only basis of immutable associations, 
since it often happens in this chequered life, that 
pain, both moral and physical, leads to their for- 
mation. It falls to the lot of few indeed, to ac- 
complish their career, without the occurrence of 
events too painfully interesting, ever to be forgot- 
ten or erased. 

Recency of occurrence, has a very great in- 
fluence. Our maternal tongue is so gradually 
acquired, and so constantly present to us, that we 
consider it next to impossible to forget it ; never- 
theless, nothing is more certain, than when an in- 
dividual is placed in isolation or exile, that he 
will lose it, wholly or in part. Our acquirements, 
whether in science or language, without repeti- 
tion, are almost sure to be forgotten. It does 
not merely suffice to know a thing; if we would 
preserve, we must repeat it. This is the source 



144 ON THE MIND. 

of that curious anomaly, whereby men sometimes 
lose the greater part of their knowledge, and be- 
come immersed in a mechanical routine. 

In the consideration of association, the con- 
nexion in the order of time, and that, in the order 
of space, claims our especial attention. In the 
one case, it is successive, in the other, synchro- 
nous. In point of fact however, successive asso- 
ciation must connote a succession of synchronous 
associations, since our sensations, our ideas and 
our emotions, are all more or less complex. It 
has been observed that ideas follow the order of 
the sensations, of which they are the analogues; 
reason and imagination however, are perpetually 
creating new associations. How infinitely lim- 
ited would existence become, were the succession 
always identical with the corresponding sensa- 
tions? This however, through an all- wise Provi- 
dence, has been differently ordered. 

The permanence of the links which bind our 
ideas, feelings and sensations, is essential to our 
well-being. Were our knowledge as difficult to 
retain as to gain, it would preclude its utility. 
It would be productive of boundless degrada- 
tion, were it necessary to form afresh, our judg- 
ments, feelings and moral impulses, each time 
that they were required. To association then, 
must be ascribed the faculty of calling up the 
ideas and feelings, with which it has pleased God 
to endow us. They follow each other with an 
ease and a rapidity, well calculated to rouse emo- 
tions of wonder and gratitude, towards the wisdom 



ON THE MIND. 145 

and power which has originated them. It is thus, 
that we are enabled to refer in a moment, to our 
intellectual stores. We have only to avail our- 
selves of any of the contrivances by which our 
knowledge is perpetuated, and straightway, it 
flows in upon us with a copiousness, only bounded 
by our information. Our feelings however, are 
not to be renewed without reverting to the ideas, 
the objects or the situations, with which they are 
connected. Thus, the orator when he would 
awaken a given passion in the bosoms of his au- 
ditors, pours forth a flood of eloquence, and raises 
such ideas as are best calculated to effect his pur- 
pose. The musician also, fills the ear with strains 
of gushing harmony, until feelings start forth, 
which eventually lead his hearers captive to the 
sorcery of his lyre. And when we hang over the 
pages of the philosopher, while he delineates the 
charms of virtue, and the ineffable advantages of 
knowledge, probity and truth, our hearts glow 
within us, and we resolve to pursue the illumi- 
nated path. 

3. There are no simple ideas ; one and all, are 
complex. If weight, extension, colour and sound, 
be so, how can the ideas formed from them, be 
otherwise? The alliances which our ideas form 
with each other, are of the most diversified de- 
scription. How many do the terms man, coun- 
try and world, respectively designate? The same 
words however, are apt to stand for different 
sums of ideas in different individuals ; they also, 
vary in vividness, correctness, and in the amount 

K 



146 ON THE MIND. 

of collateral associations. As individuals are 
never placed exactly in the same circumstances, 
it is impossible for any to become wholly alike. 
Nature indeed, has taken unerring means to pre- 
vent a monotony that would be fatal to the best 
interests of our species. 

Some minds display multitudes of complex 
ideas, closely associated with the terms which re- 
present them. Thus, the practised orator is able 
to pour forth volumes of eloquence with ease and 
rapidity. His auditory however, are rarely aware 
that the faculty which excites their admiration, is 
generated in some measure, by the art itself; and 
that endless combinations of winged words, lie 
latent in the memory of the speaker. This talent 
is exemplified in the improvisatore, who emits the 
well-trimmed line and measured rhyme, with sin- 
gular facility. Few who are in the habit of com- 
mitting their thoughts to paper, know how much 
their seeming originality is but the echo of the 
sentiments of others ; how frequently they repeat 
themselves, and to what an extent, the words, the 
ideas and their very combinations, exist ready 
formed in the memory. 

Complex ideas succeed each other in trains, 
from an early period of consciousness, until the 
close of our career. Life is a name for the three 
great classes of phenomena — sensations, emotions 
and ideas, which are ever going on. Mental 
activity intermits during the day, and always in 
deep sleep ; it is not probable however, that con- 
sciousness in some form, every wholly ceases. 



ON THE MIND. 147 

As at present constituted, the repose of sleep is 
necessary to arrest the wear and tear of the 
frame, and to yield peace and quiet to the soul. 
Sleeplessness quickly exhausts, and if long pro- 
tracted, induces disease of body or mind. After 
rest, our mental energy is lighted up by the asso- 
ciations connected with daily pursuits and sur- 
rounding objects. Are we capable, it has been 
asked, of thinking about two or more things at 
once ? If the complexity of our ideas be any cri- 
terion, we are not only capable of doing so, but 
we cannot do otherwise. And if there be grades 
of intelligences successively rising, as they ap- 
proach at measureless distances, the great first 
Cause, we may venture to suppose, that one of 
the most prominent distinctions, will be the pro- 
gressive enlargement of the field of consciousness. 
As to that Almighty Being, whom we cannot 
name without reverence, His consciousness, must 
include a knowledge of all the doings of the in- 
finite universe, past, present and to come. 

It was once supposed, that numerous ideas 
were insusceptible of decomposition, an error 
that barred the way to further progress. What 
could be expected, when such names as time, 
space, power, virtue and justice, were considered 
to refer to so many entities inherent in the mind, 
and bearing no necessary reference to things 
without? The utility of intellectual analysis is 
no where more conspicuous, than in relation to 
complex ideas. How wonderful the diversity of 
the human mind, and of the human heart, arising 



148 ON THE MIND. 

as it does, from the combination and recombina- 
tion of a small number of elementary ideas and 
emotions, themselves referable to sensation ? By 
means of analysis, principles, before supposed to 
be simple and innate, are demonstrated to be 
compound and derived. Thus, modern chemistry 
shews the elements of the philosophers, to be made 
up of bodies still more elementary, and which, 
though few in number, produce the admirable 
variety of the material world. In the study of 
the human character, in morals, metaphysics, and 
in the daily intercourse of life, intellectual analysis 
is throughout indispensable. How few there are, 
who, to sufficient discrimination, add the calmness 
and singleness of purpose, without which, the 
obstacles cannot be put aside, that oppose a suc- 
cessful scrutiny into the recesses of the soul? 
How difficult the task of self-inquiry; how nu- 
merous the errors, the delusions and the passions, 
that stand in the way ? And if these exist, even 
in the intelligent and the good, how strongly must 
they operate in the ignorant, the immoral and 
the unjust? A tendency to them is apt to be 
generated by promiscuous intercourse with our 
fellows, unbroken by self-communion, and un- 
corrected by pursuits, that would convert the mere 
man of the world into the man of science and 
letters, the patriot and the philosopher. The 
habit of analyzing, not only our trains of con- 
sciousness, but our complex ideas and emotions, 
is of the greatest advantage in the study of man 
and of self. He who can weigh the force, and 



ON THE MIND. 14Q 

estimate the origin of his reasonings — who can 
measure his motives, his feelings and his impulses, 
is no ordinary being. In the analysis of the 
ideas which pass current in society — which are 
common to the species, or peculiar to the indi- 
vidual, will be found endless scope for occupation 
and improvement. 

As there is an endless difference between dif- 
ferent minds, some excelling, as much as others 
are deficient, so there is an equal variety in the 
number and complexity of the trains with which 
each is stored. Where are they — where are the 
hidden recesses of the soul, which contain the 
numberless emotions, and endlessly diversified 
combinations of ideas, which lie latent in the me- 
mory ? The strength and beauty of the outward 
man are quickly revealed, but what is to declare 
the proportions within? We cannot indeed, dis- 
cern the lurking passions, the secret emotions and 
the stores of knowledge, through their vesture of 
clay, but if patient and observing, we may appre- 
ciate them by means of their manifestations. 
Here, I speak of man as man, and apart from the 
distinctions, which sometimes right and often 
wrong, mark the estimation of society. Were we 
to search the wide range of nature, we should 
find nothing more distinct, than is one man from 
another, and at times, from himself. Polar snow 
or Etna's fire — the sterile desert or the fertile 
plain — beauty or deformity — salubrity or insalu- 
brity, are often not more opposed. 

1. Abstraction, generalization and classifica- 



150 ON THE MIND. 

tion, are analogous, but not identical processes. 
By the "first, we isolate a given property from the 
things which exhibit it. Thus, greenness is 
colour, viewed apart from the bodies which dis- 
play it. The term green, connotes the coloured 
body, while greenness indicates the colour alone. 
All epithets are concretes ; they connote the body 
of which they affirm a quality; the latter how- 
ever, by itself, is an abstraction. The words 
which denote action and passion, or the verbs 
namely, may be employed in an abstract or con- 
crete sense: examples are superfluous. 

Generalization is the act by which we associate 
insulated conclusions under a common head. A 
physician for example, asserts that inflammatory 
diseases require bloodletting. We are informed 
by a geologist, that certain structures never pre- 
sent organic remains. One politician affirms 
that the people are unfit to exercise self-govern- 
ment; another, that they are the sources of all 
legitimate power. We are told by one class of 
theologians, that individuals are incapable of 
thinking correctly on moral or religious subjects ; 
while another, arrives at the conclusion, that they 
are precisely those, on which all should think and 
decide for themselves. Some metaphysicians are 
of opinion, that men are endowed with peculiar 
dispositions from birth ; others, that such have no 
existence. These generalizations are both true 
and false, and involve a multitude of particulars : 
some however, are mixed or conditional. No 
mental process requires greater care to avoid 



ON THE MIND. 151 

falling into error. The ingenious, the hasty and 
the superficial, are prone to erroneous generali- 
zation ; but the profound and reflecting, are cau- 
tious how they chain down the multifarious, and 
frequently inscrutable operations of nature. 

Classification is a singularly useful process. 
The multitude of objects is so great, that the me- 
mory would otherwise, be incapable of registering 
them. We therefore, isolate them into families, 
each embracing a number of common particulars. 
The subdivision is continued on the same prin- 
ciple, until we arrive at two or more individuals 
exhibiting the same qualities. A contrivance 
like this, is prodigiously favourable to the acqui- 
sition and retention of knowledge. 

5. By induction, we determine particulars from 
certain premises. It is not a mere verbal act, 
since many excel in it, who are hardly able to 
dress up their conclusions in words. The pro- 
cess may be direct or indirect. We may arrive 
at the fact by the determination of what is true, 
or the rejection of what is false. Our reasonings 
may embrace a chain of demonstrations, the pre- 
miss of the one, hinging on the conclusion of the 
other, or they may be confined to one or two 
particulars. The more copious and correct the 
data, the more certain, other circumstances alike, 
will be the inference. In some cases, a single 
datum will suffice ; a crucial argument is of this 
description. When Lavosier and others, re com- 
pounded water from oxygen and hydrogen, the 
induction that this fluid was composed of these 



152 ON THE MIND. 

elements, was complete. Sometimes, a large in- 
duction is necessary to establish a given fact. 
The possession by the human race of similar 
capabilities, is determined by a multitude of ob- 
servations: God's moral government is ascer- 
tained by others, still more numerous. Induction 
involves the exercise of all our faculties, and of 
every process of investigation. It has been sup- 
posed that analysis, or the determination of the 
elements of things, and synthesis, or their recon- 
struction, were more peculiarly called for; but 
however indispensable, it does not appear that 
they are more so, than other intellectual opera- 
tions. Many propose to substitute the Baconian 
method of induction, for the syllogistic one of 
Aristotle; but as Whately has observed, these 
methods are not opposed, since every induction 
and every argument, may be stated syllogistically. 
In determining the correctness of the premises 
from which our induction must proceed, we have 
indeed, nothing to do with the syllogism, which 
leaves the truth or falsehood of the former, as it 
finds it. 

6. The origin of language is wrapt in the night 
of time. Philology at best, is a conjectural 
science : language is incessantly changing, but we 
are imperfectly acquainted with the causes of its 
mutations. To trace all languages to a few radi- 
cals, as some have attempted, is doubtless to fall 
into an error ; their mechanical origin however, 
is intelligible enough. The process of respira- 
tion creates voice instinctively, and the position 



ON THE MIND. 153 

of the organs of speech, alters the articulation 
with every utterance. Pleasure and pain lead 
to varied sounds, and one individual imitates 
another. The occurrences of nature — the rushing 
of the winds, the rustling of the trees, the roar 
of the sea, and the voices of animals, along with 
innumerable casual sounds, prove sources of in- 
struction. In no long time, the whole is con- 
nected by mutual consent, with the wants, the 
wishes, the feelings and the knowledge of man- 
kind. Language however, improves by slow 
degrees; and it would probably, require cen- 
turies, before the least cultivated dialect, could 
reach the lowest pitch of perfection that has been 
anywhere attained. Music, of which all the 
melody, and perhaps all the harmony, exist in 
nature, was long indeed, in arriving at its present 
condition. There is a language of signs, of ex- 
pression, of attitude and of tone, each of which, 
yields a meaning of its own. I need not insist 
on the utility of language, or on the provision 
which it constitutes for the development of our 
faculties. It is trite to say, that man could not 
have arrived at his present eminence, had he not 
been gifted with this singular means of conveying 
his feelings and ideas to his fellows, as well as 
of maintaining them in himself. Among the 
first things which strike us, are the properties 
of words; some of these are names, others in- 
dicate feelings, acts, relation, transition and 
quality. A multitude serve no purpose, save 
that of modifying other words. As the objects 



154 ON THE MIND. 

which surround us, as well as our intellectual 
conditions, are of endless diversity, so language 
evinces in its construction, every form of classi- 
fication and abstraction. It would have been 
otherwise impossible, for any language or any 
memory, to contain a sufficient number of corres- 
ponding terms. Abstractions, by adding inten- 
sity to thought, may be said to prolong life itself. 
Abstract terms however, are abstracted, and we 
are able by a few words, to refer to multitudinous 
particulars. We must not forget that they are 
merely a verbal artifice. Thus, when we say the 
public, the human race, antiquity, posterity, we 
refer to the individuals who live, who have lived, 
or who may live hereafter. Conscience and the 
moral sense, are abstractions of certain mental 
states, but not any separate power or faculty, 
much less any innate or underived quality. The 
properties which characterize language as an art, 
whereby we impress others with our ideas and 
feelings, and receive impressions in return, are 
fully detailed in treatises on grammar, rhetoric, 
logic and philology. 

7. There are two conditions important as re- 
lated to each other, and to the operations of the 
intellect generally — the active and passive states 
of the mind, namely. In one sense indeed, both 
are active, as is every condition of consciousness ; 
but one is more so than the other. Few rise in 
intellectual activity above the demands of their 
respective occupations; by these they are kept 
in a condition of limited excitement, infinitely 



ON THE MIND. 155 

beneath their actual capabilities. The intellec- 
tual effort which enables us to understand writ- 
ten composition, varies from that which takes 
place when we ourselves are engaged in the act. 
The difference in fact, is that between active and 
passive mental occupation; and it is impracti- 
cable to compass the good effects of the one, by- 
means of the other alone. Human beings are in- 
capable of never-sleeping activity, but without 
more or less, it is impossible to realize desirable 
results. The dullest minds even, when subjected 
to some urgent impulse, will exhibit surprising 
impetuosity, but when the former has died away, 
they lapse into their habitual torpor. What we 
call genius, is the possession of highly developed 
activity. In most however, the latter sleeps and 
wakes in a series of oscillations, that last through 
life. How few manifest the elevation of mind, 
which true to its purpose, sustains them with un- 
flinching firmness to the end of their career? 

8. Reason, judgment and reflection, are names 
for analogous mental operations. When an in- 
dividual pursues a particular train of investiga- 
tion — when he examines, compares and draws 
conclusions, he is said to reason. In every men- 
tal operation we refer to our past judgments; 
and the more accurately these have been recorded, 
so much the more easy does the formation of every 
additional one become. How abortive are the 
reasonings of the child, until they have been 
strengthened by age and exercise ? Our memory 
and our associations however, are not less called 



156 ON THE MIND. 

upon perhaps, with respect to sensible objects, 
than with regard to those which are purely in- 
tellectual. The correctness of our judgments, is 
influenced by that of our observation ; when we 
generalize, we reason, not less than when we 
classify, examine, analyze, compare or infer. 
Reason is not so much a particular faculty, as 
the sum of all our faculties. It is the characte- 
ristic of human beings, not because animals do 
not reason, but because their reasoning powers 
are so far beneath our own. Reason is variously 
possessed by mankind: in some, it is so highly 
developed, and in others so defective, that we can 
hardly believe the instances to occur in similarly 
constituted individuals. High moral and imagi- 
native, though not identical with intellectual de- 
velopment, necessarily presupposes more or less 
of the latter. The intellects of the great majority 
however, slumber in comparative inaction; they 
toil and they suffer, but they reflect little. As 
reason is the most remarkable, so it is the most 
durable of human possessions. We retain it 
through every change of fortune, from birth to 
the grave. It is our unalienable birthright, and 
cannot be forfeited, unless through misconduct or 
disease. Reason is no man's gift; it is the appa- 
nage of poverty as of wealth. When duly culti- 
vated, it requires no extraneous influence to urge 
it forward; it asks a certain degree of develop- 
ment however, before it can assert its rights. 
The minds of millions now lie torpid and asleep 
—who shall rouse them — who shall cast off their 



ON THE MIND. 157 

heavy shackles and bid them be free? Who 
shall place them in a condition to claim, and to 
secure for ever, those precious possessions, com- 
pared to which, all others fade? 

9. Imagination though not confined to the poet, 
is usually supposed to refer to the power of com- 
bining ideas of a certain order. Prior associa- 
tions are called up by the memory, while new 
ones, some of a permanent, others of a fugitive 
nature, are created. Passion of some kind, is in 
truth the moving power, and men are never so 
imaginative as when they are under its influence. 
It is obvious that the character of the different 
trains on which we bestow the term, will depend 
on the age, the station and the habits of the indi- 
vidual. The school-boy thinks on his prizes and 
his pastimes; the youth on the mistress of his 
affections, and on scenes of wild adventure ; while 
the adult dwells on projects of ambition, philan- 
thropy or wealth. The faculty varies in different 
individuals ; some being imaginative to an extreme, 
while others are so with difficulty. As in every 
other case, exercise yields facility; while the in- 
ducements are various — talent, passion and neces- 
sity. We look upon Homer, Milton and Shake- 
speare, with justice, as men of a highly imaginative 
order, and possessed of superior intellectual at- 
tainments. It does not follow indeed, that culti- 
vated individuals should be poets, though the 
converse is necessary. Talent however elevated, 
cannot without assiduous exercise, constitute a 
poet, and the rule extends to every act in which 
the imagination finds scope. 



158 ON THE MIND. 

Imagination is the source of numerous gratifi- 
cations. How often are we made happy by the 
fascinations of our day dreams ? Thus, by means 
of this magic faculty, we realize pleasures in ad- 
vance: joy indeed, quickly passes away, but ex- 
pectation is limitless. How often are hardships 
and wearing toil — how often are the exertions of 
the patriot and philanthropist, cheered and com- 
forted by the anticipation of good ? Imagination 
aids the upright man to associate with his trials 
and crosses, the joyful end which is to accrue 
from them. Surely, it is no mean agent, which 
thus enables us to connect even pleasurable emo- 
tions, with immediate pain. How limited in truth, 
would our intellectual existence prove, were our 
ideas and feelings, merely to follow the order of 
their production? Our faculties however, are 
multiplied, and we are able to create endless 
combinations of beauty and magnificence, ex- 
tending to all things earthly and heavenly ; even 
to that great Being, who, great and wise as he is, 
has framed us thus to minister to our well-being. 
He has not indeed, permitted us to form definite 
conceptions of the final condition of man, whether 
as regards this world, or that to which all alike are 
bound; but he has given us imagination where- 
with to create a world of probabilities, and by 
placing us in the midst of difficulties and doubts, 
has sharpened our moral and mental vision, and 
incited us to its vigilant and unceasing cultivation. 
Imagination is a good in proportion to the use 
which is made of it. Well-regulated, it is the 
source of innumerable pleasures and advantages — 



ON THE MIND. 159 

the contrary, it leads to countless evils. It is 
the duty of every one to keep it in subordination 
to reason; and those in whom it is not governed 
by the probabilities and contingencies of life, 
create for themselves an endless tissue of misery 
and disappointment. 

10. Memory is the most wonderful of the fa- 
culties with which we have been gifted. It would 
be little to experience sensations, if we had not 
the power of recalling them. We retain the 
feeling or the idea which arises from a sensation, 
long after its origin is forgotten. Repetition and 
vividness are sources of permanency. Thus it 
is with the greater part of mankind; they re- 
member or forget as circumstances dictate. Nu- 
merous contrivances, such as language written 
and spoken, pictures, statues and edifices, are 
used to aid and assist the memory. The Mexicans 
employed knotted cords, and the Egyptians hiero- 
glyphics, while the Chinese and Japanese use a 
complex system of arbitrary marks, by which 
ideas and objects alone, are represented. There 
are numerous varieties in memory, both in power 
and in kind; some recollecting places, others 
words best. We remember more speedily from 
having learned to control our attention ; while 
we recal most readily, the things with which we 
are conversant. A grammarian will recollect 
the analogies of language, better than a mathe- 
matician will do ; but the latter will excel him at 
a problem. A physician will retain medical de- 
tails more easily than a lawyer, and conversely. 



160 ON THE MIND. 

How important the part which memory performs, 
whether with regard to science or the details of 
life? Quickness of recollection is created and 
perfected by exercise : presence of mind is a mo- 
dification of this invaluable power. How re- 
markably is this faculty evinced in the practised 
debater and hardy veteran : what coolness in the 
midst of danger, and what fertility of resources, 
do they not respectively exhibit? Our know- 
ledge remains latent till memory calls it forth. 
Where it reposes meanwhile, and how it is re- 
tained, are not to be explained. When the 
wonder-working wand of association is waved, it 
enters upon the stage of consciousness. Some 
things vanish, while other things are too deeply 
graven ever to be erased. Whence this is, we 
do not know. Yet there are events- which seem 
to leave no trace behind, until some talismanic 
chord being struck, the forgotten theme starts 
forth afresh. Our pleasures and our pains, after 
being felt with vividness for a time, melt away 
and are forgotten. Our joys and our sorrows 
deluge us with emotion while they last, but sub- 
side at length, into calmness or indifference. 

11. Futurity is a name for all forthcoming 
events — prescience for those which we anticipate. 
We have so often witnessed a certain succession 
of occurrences, that an immutable association 
connects them together. Summer has so long 
followed spring, and spring winter, that we arrive 
at the conclusion that they will ever continue to 
do so. We affirm that we know that the sun will 



ON THE MIND. 161 

rise to-morrow, but all that we really know, is 
that it has been so heretofore. Our knowledge 
as to the continuance of this phenomenon, as of 
all others, relates wholly to the past. The sun 
has set and risen so often, within the compass of 
our experience, that we cannot help believing 
that it will do so, to-morrow and to-morrow, 
through succeeding ages. Thus, is prescience 
produced, and admirably does it serve our pur- 
poses. Less was not to be expected from the de- 
vice of an unerring and all-wise Contriver. How 
deplorable would the condition of humanity be- 
come, without a knowledge of the future ? The 
mariner would cease to ply the deep, and the 
husbandman to till the soil : all productive occu- 
pation, with hope and fear, would equally cease. 
With the certainty of a future however, every- 
thing is pursued with alacrity and success. Had 
more specific information been necessary, the 
means of acquiring it would have been imparted : 
yet, when certainty as to the dim and distant 
future fades, we have been gifted with imagina- 
tion, and blessed hope, by means of which, under 
the control of reason, we image forth that which 
is good and desirable. Knowledge more perfect, 
would have been incompatible with the economy 
of existence. Even as regards this world, pre- 
science is desirable ; but it soars beyond time and 
space, and carries our delighted hearts into the 
regions of futurity. Such overflowing evidence 
of the wisdom and goodness of God, is furnished 
to us in this life, that by an association still more 

L 



162 ON THE MIND. 

binding than in the case bf material events, we 
trust and believe, that they will be exercised for 
ever, better and more abundantly than we are 
able to conceive. As to the prescience of that 
great Being on whom our dependence rests, it 
must be infinite, for He knows all things. There 
can be no past, no future, to One, from whom all 
knowledge, excellence and order, emanate, and 
in whose hands is the fulness and the origin of 
existence. 

12. Motive may be defined as a state of con- 
sciousness that precedes a given act, and by which 
we are inclined to perform it. Motives may be 
sensual, intellectual, moral, or mixed. Our ob- 
jects and efforts through life; the conduct of the 
ignorant, the vicious, the wise and the good, come 
equally, but how differently, under their influence. 
All men, the insane and idiotic excepted, are re- 
gulated by them. The murderer has a motive, 
execrable though it be, along with the man of 
sublime virtue. Actuating motives are not 
always the only ones : a man may be governed 
by numbers in succession, to the force of one or 
more of which, he eventually yields. How fre- 
quently are the painful struggles to which the 
human breast is subject, to be ascribed to the 
collision of conflicting motives; and how often 
does the heart heave and labour with agonizing 
throes, before it can come to a decision? The 
motives which influence us at one time, are in- 
operative at another : their proper regulation em- 
braces the just appreciation of everything that 



ON THE MIND. 



163 



conduct involves. Praise and blame stand in 
close relation to them; hence it is, that we are 
so much on the alert to detect the motives of 
others; an inquiry however, in which we often 
fail. Success will be contingent on our know- 
ledge of the human heart, and on the degree in 
which our faculties are matured by the intercourse 
of life. Men of the world rarely make a suffi- 
cient allowance for the different springs of con- 
duct. Political rancour and sectarian animosity, 
largely contribute to erroneous interpretations: 
other causes operate, but none on a scale so un- 
remitting, or so gigantic as these. The regulation 
of motives by principles of truth, equity and mo- 
deration, is among the highest and best endea- 
vours of human virtue. 

13. The subject on which I now enter, has 
occasioned more stormy discussion, than perhaps 
any other within the range of metaphysical in- 
quiry. I speak of that state of the human mind 
which bears the name of will. It was once sup- 
posed that virtue and moral obligation, were 
affirmed or denied, according to the manner j n 
which it was explained; just as if truth could 
be unfavourable to the interests of virtue, or as 
if men's knowledge and practical experience, 
could be neutralized by their conclusions on ab- 
stract topics. Much of the confusion on the sub- 
ject of will, has been occasioned by inattention to 
the meaning of words, or by accepting them in a 
variable sense. Were this previously determined, 
it is probable that many noisy controversies 



164 ON THE MIND. 

would not have occurred, or that they would have 
been conducted in a different manner. 

Doubtless, we possess the power of willing, but 
not apart from motive or impulse. I desire to 
trace these lines, but the association of the act 
of writing, with words: these, with the ideas 
which suggest them, and these again, with a suc- 
cession of trains, involving not only all that I 
have written, but the motives which led me to 
undertake the task, and consequently, more or 
less of my past intellectual and moral existence, 
must have preceded the determination. When 
I try to recollect, the mind pauses on the different 
associated circumstances, until perchance, the 
wished-for idea makes its appearance. Yet, how 
is it that we dwell longer on one train than upon 
another; by what inscrutable process is it, that 
ideas and feelings succeed each other to such an 
endless extent, and that the mind acts upon the 
organs, and constrains the performance of its 
will ? Long trains follow, the one after the other, 
of which the order though similar, is not identi- 
cal with what we have experienced before. Here, 
the great principle of association presents itself 
in a peculiar light, modifying by an admirable 
economy, but not deranging the uniformity of 
our mental trains. This is effected by calling up 
collateral links, which are connected with others 
without end. Thus, we perceive that nothing 
can come into our consciousness independent of 
the great bond of association, or without some 
preceding cause, motive, or impulse, whether ori- 



ON THE MIND. 165 

ginating in the mind itself, or derived from with- 
out. We receive an idea or feeling in the first 
instance, from sensation ; but once received, it is 
instantly annexed to some leading cluster of ideas 
or feelings, and thenceforth, is governed by the 
laws of association. As to the power however, 
by which these acts of association and volition 
are performed, we are wholly in the dark. 

It is well determined that we cannot will any 
thing, without some previously impelling motive. 
If any one think that he can do so, let him try the 
experiment. Whether we turn to the right hand 
or to the left, rise or sit down, converse with 
other men, or commune with ourselves, there 
must in every case, be a motive. Even in gues- 
sing, there is a casual association, that inclines us 
in one direction, rather than in another. We say 
that we can execute a certain action, or refrain 
from it — true, but there must be some impelling 
cause. If by free-will, is meant that we can act 
independent of circumstances, it is a nonentity ; 
but if we mean that we have the power of choice, 
in subordination to motive, the name and the 
definition may be equally assented to. 

The power which association possesses in the 
regulation of the will, is strongly evinced by the 
circumstance, that we cannot recal our emotions, 
or even our ideas, without having recourse to it. 
Do we want to review what is known on a given 
subject, we search the repositories of science; we 
go from point to point, and from link to link ; the 
memory pours forth its stores, and the task is 



166 ON THE MIND. 

done. As to feeling, when we think of the words 
and actions of the beloved, but absent object of 
our affections ; when we contemplate the apart- 
ment which he occupied, or even the garments 
which he wore, our hearts overflow with bursting 
emotion. Much of the ambiguity prevailing on 
the subject of will, motive, and action, appears 
to have been created by the circumstance, that 
they may be described as occurring, either ac- 
tively or passively. Whichsoever phraseology 
we employ, it is obvious that the facts remain 
unaltered. We say with equal convenience, that 
an idea arose, or that it has been awakened. 
There is nothing ambiguous in the occurrence, 
though the language into which we translate it, 
may be so. When this is properly explained, 
every thing becomes intelligible, and we may 
retain the form of expression which pleases us 
best. That however, which designates an active 
power, has been so long in use, and is so con- 
formable to the prejudices and opinions of man- 
kind, that it is not likely to be discontinued. 

14. The great principle of association is con- 
nected with every form of consciousness, belief 
not excepted. To know a thing, and to believe 
it, as Mill has tersely remarked, is one and the 
same thing : we cannot know, without believing 
it, nor believe, without knowing it. The two 
states of mind are identical, and the terms by 
which we designate them, convertible. Belief 
however, is not always regulated by truth, for it 
is certain that we can believe a falsehood not less 



ON THE MIND. 167 

firmly than its opposite ; but no one can do so 
knowingly. Belief then, follows all the errors 
of our minds, and all the illusions of our senses. 
Feelings will often remain, when belief has ceased, 
and even sometimes re-awaken it. Thus, re- 
conversions are perhaps oftener caused by the 
heart than the head. We are aware however, 
that some things are not true, yet we sometimes 
find it difficult not to believe them. It is hard 
to think that the heads of the antipodes are 
placed opposite our own ; that the sun does not 
move round the earth ; that colour does not re- 
side in bodies, and that we do not see extension. 
Our belief in the future, is a case of immutable 
association, generated by the repetition of trains 
of events. Continuance and futurity, in this 
case, are convertible terms ; but if the reasonings 
of Hume, were admitted to the extreme to which 
he attempts to push them, we could believe in 
nothing that did not come within the immediate 
range of our observation. Yet doubtless, this writer, 
in the face of his own principles, made a provision 
for the future, and perhaps believed that the 
works to which he consigned his opinions, might 
survive him. Testimony relates to things past 
or absent; and we have sufficient evidence to 
shew, that it will lead us to believe in what is 
false, as well as in what is true. The readiness 
of belief, is contingent on our knowledge and 
intellectual activity : the ignorant will embrace 
the most repugnant absurdities, and reject the 
most certain truths, just because the former are 



168 ON THE MIND. 

in accordance with their prejudices, while the 
latter are otherwise. 

It is a question often agitated, whether we can 
believe at pleasure. One party affirms, that 
opinions lie wholly at our discretion, while another 
asserts the contrary. Neither of these categories 
however, involves the truth; both are partly 
right, and partly wrong. It is the interest of all 
to believe what is true, yet it cannot be contended 
that all men do so. Going upon the first hypo- 
thesis, how does this happen, since the matter 
lies at our disposal? Probably, some cause 
will be assigned ; this, therefore, is only what is 
required to overthrow the hypothesis in question. 
For without denying the power, if hindrances be 
once admitted, it shows that it is subject to modi- 
fications. The other view is also wrong; for 
although belief is controlled by circumstances, it 
errs in stating, that it is in no respect within our 
power. If those who assert such doctrines, really 
entertain them, why do they try to propagate 
them ? It is not less certain indeed, that every 
one has a power over his opinions, however 
modified by circumstances, than that it is every 
one's duty to search after truth. It will now 
be proper to inquire what the power is, which 
man has over his belief; what the circumstances 
are which restrict it, and lastly, the nature of 
the responsibility which is attached to the exer- 
cise of it. 

Every one must admit that we can employ our 
senses within certain limits, as we please : we pos- 



ON THE MIND. 169 

sess a similar power over our mental faculties. 
Both are placed under the control of motives, ema- 
nating from ourselves, or coming from without. 
Those which influence the educated and moral, 
are inoperative with regard to the ignorant and 
depraved, and conversely. A temptation to steal, 
or to commit murder, could not act upon the 
first, though it might upon the last. One man 
may refrain from an immoral act, from a convic- 
tion of its injurious consequences, and another, 
from an aversion to it ; the most moral character 
however, will unite the love of virtue and the 
contempt of vice, with a keen discernment of the 
advantages of the one, and the evils of the other. 
Where knowledge and feeling do not lend their 
sanction, the individual so circumstanced, must 
be highly defective. Knowledge defines our du- 
ties, and aids the heart in their appreciation. An 
ignorant man is prepared to entertain the most 
flagrant absurdities, and perhaps, to perpetrate 
the most revolting crimes. Could the wretched 
barbarian or ruthless fanatic, rejoice round the 
body of a human victim, reeking in blood or 
writhing in agony, were his heart alive, or his 
head instructed, as to the duties incumbent on 
the virtuous and intelligent ? In every condition 
of life, the influence of the motives which regu- 
late belief, will operate according to the amount 
of moral and intellectual cultivation, the habits 
and predilections of the individual. These will 
cause the admission or the rejection of given 
tenets ; stimulate inquiry or repress it, and lead 
to the adoption of error or the advocacy of truth. 



170 ON THE MIND. 

The circumstances which regulate belief are 
numerous : the condition in which a man is born ; 
his rank and estimation in society ; his profession, 
and above all, his education, are very influential. 
What prospect has one who is bred in an atmos- 
phere of barbarism and superstition, of acquiring 
correct information, or virtuous principles; or 
how is it possible to present motives to his mind, 
sufficient to promote inquiry, or to further the detec- 
tion of error? Were he even so fortunate as to 
escape the general contamination, he cannot ven- 
ture with impunity, to denounce the opinions and 
the practices of others. Numerous passions and 
prepossessions, as Bailey has remarked, serve to 
influence opinion. When honour, fame, pecuniary 
profit, and early association, are connected with 
belief, they must swerve inquiry, and lead to the 
accumulation of partial evidence. How few have 
the firmness to act in opposition to such con- 
siderations, and by resolute investigation arrive 
at truth? Yet is this moral courage necessary 
to him, who would prosecute the search under 
unfavourable circumstances. The governments 
of some countries, interpose their sanction in be- 
half of particular views, to the prejudice of others. 
It is needless to observe how much this must 
serve to bias inquiry. There are also other arti- 
ficial sanctions of time and place, that lead to a 
similar result. 

The man who directs his mental efforts in one 
direction, without adequate reference to the con- 
clusions of others, must be unaware of the injus- 
tice which he exercises towards himself. He 



ON THE MIND. 171 

becomes unable to appreciate the evidence in 
behalf of the opinions of others, or to detect the 
errors that lurk in his own. Of the various creeds 
professed on earth, how numerous are the indivi- 
duals who entertain the firmest conviction with 
respect to each, yet it is morally evident, that all 
cannot be true. Doubtless, many profess what 
they do not believe; hence perhaps, the deplor- 
able error, that people, circumstances remaining 
the same, can believe as they please. A man's 
profession may be altered by allurement or in- 
timidation, but it is impossible by any such means, 
to change his belief. Profession and belief are 
distinct ; they may or may not be in accordance, 
but they should not be confounded. Many have 
treated this subject in a manner, that reflects equal 
credit on their hearts and understandings; yet, 
until an error so baleful is rooted out, enlighten- 
ment and rational tolerance cannot well exist. 
What indeed, would the advocate of the fallacy 
alluded to, reply, were he asked to change his 
opinions for a single hour ? Could the individual 
who should refuse so conclusive a test, really ad- 
mit the delusion which he professed to believe? 
An anomaly still more startling, exists in the 
conduct of those who claim tolerance towards 
themselves, yet refuse it to others. These how- 
ever, are among the weaknesses perhaps inevit- 
able, which adhere to human beings, in a condition 
of imperfect moral and intellectual progression. 

The discussion of the natural sanctions and 
prohibitions, founded by the Author of our nature, 



172 ON THE MIND. 

and connected with belief, comes more fitly 
under the head of moral causation. I shall 
merely observe, that such sanctions and prohibi- 
tions do exist, and that disease of mind, misery, 
ignorance, and vice, as certainly attend the vio- 
lation of the laws which regulate our intellectual 
and moral being, as disease and death result from 
the infraction of those, which have been instituted 
for the well-being and preservation of our animal 
frames. Mental health and activity, with the 
ennobling qualities that adorn the heart, are not 
less certainly ensured to those who obey the one, 
than are bodily health and strength to those, who 
conform to the other. It is the duty of every 
one to seek truth and moral excellence to the 
utmost of his ability, and to resist obstacles, 
obloquy and threats, whenever they would inter- 
fere with these invaluable acquirements. This 
is alike incumbent on all, and no base expedi- 
ency, no love of gain or dread of injury, should 
induce us to part with our birthright — the ac- 
quirement of as great a sum of knowledge and 
excellence, as our faculties and opportunities 
will permit. 

15. Numerous disputes have taken place on 
the subject of identity. It may be defined as the 
perpetuity of body or mind through life. Bodily 
identity, absolutely speaking, cannot exist unless 
for a moment, since the materials of our frames 
are incessantly and rapidly changing. The case 
as to form, is different ; this alters more slowly 
than the substance : the materials are cast in the 



ON THE MIND. 173 

same mould, and the resemblance continues after 
every original atom has disappeared. Thus, we 
call many outward objects the same, because the 
forms and relative localities remain. We con- 
sider a rainbow the same, from minute to minute, 
though the drops of water and rays of light, flit 
away each moment : we do not perceive the mu- 
tations of the parasitic cloud, and the river of 
yesterday, is the river of to-day. According to 
the material hypothesis, identity in one sense, is 
out of the question, mind and body being of one 
substance, and changing from day to day, with 
the food which composes them. We do not 
know, and probably could not comprehend the 
substance of the mind; we are aware however, 
that it is not matter. We have no grounds for 
believing that it ceases to be the same, and con- 
sequently, are entitled to conclude that the mind 
persists unaltered. The order and the amount 
of our sensations, feelings and ideas, are continu- 
ally varying, but this affects in no respect, the 
sameness of their vehicle. But consciousness 
only reveals the operations of the mind, and these 
can never shew the nature of the thinking prin- 
ciple. The phenomena of mind and matter are 
distinct ; they have nothing in common, and 
to confound them, is to assert that sensations 
and the external sources of sensation, are one 
and the same. To sum up the question — 
bodily identity, though not absolute, continues 
long enough both as to substance and form, to 
isolate the individual from his fellows, and to 



174 ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 

create an indissoluble association between its 
outward manifestations, and the inward and un- 
changeable mind. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ON THE RELATIONS AND ADAPTATIONS OF THE 
HUMAN MIND. 



1. The relations and adaptations of the human 
mind, are both numerous and important. They 
include the varied concerns of society; of man 
with man, and of nation with nation. Our vices 
and our virtues relate to human intercourse, and 
are generated by it. This consideration places 
in a striking light, the influence of man on his 
fellows; for if the misconduct of the profligate, 
and the philanthropy of the benevolent, are 
occasioned by the institutions of society, they 
lead to an important inference as to the obliga- 
tion under which it labours, of making a provision 
for the intelligence and morality of all its mem- 
bers. The influence of governments on the 
governed, of nation on nation, and of individual 
on individual, is enormous. How much of our 
happiness, and how many of our sorrows and 
our sufferings, are occasioned by the conduct of 
others ? When we descend to particulars ; when 
we contemplate the multiplied relations of man 



ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 175 

with man, and enumerate those which subsist 
between members of the same family, the same 
community, and the same era; when we reflect 
on the influence of the dead and gone, on the 
living, and on the prospective influence of exist- 
ing races on posterity, we are struck with the 
magnitude of these relations. How many of our 
physical, but how very many of our moral and 
intellectual gratifications, depend on the co-ope- 
ration of others? Governments control a mul- 
titude of pleasures. In taxation, and in the 
application of its proceeds ; in war and in peace ; 
in the administration of justice, and in the 
appointment of honest and able functionaries ; in 
political and religious impartiality or the reverse ; 
and in the absence or the existence of restrictions 
on the diffusion of knowledge, their influence is 
boundless. Mankind are mutually dependent ; 
the evils of society are great, but they are only 
incidentally contingent. An isolated human 
being is a fraction ; man may be miserable in 
society, but without it, he cannot be happy. It 
is the birth-place of his virtues, as well as of the 
moral and intellectual energies, that dignify and 
adorn his nature. Although not constituted as 
it should be, it is the element and the agent of his 
moral and intellectual advancement; the equal 
instrument of enormous good as of prodigious 
evil. Yet, were society regenerated ; were men's 
habits, manners, feelings and thoughts, placed 
under the abiding influence of universal know- 
ledge and benevolence ; were our intellectual, 



176 ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 

moral, and physical capabilities, cultivated from 
infancy, I cannot see how it should originate evil, or 
anything in short, save unmixed good. There is 
no innate or gratuitous malignity in the human 
heart : if inspired with knowledge and benevo- 
lence, beneficence must result ; or if with igno- 
rance and malevolence, vice. Whence our good 
or our bad qualities, if not from education, effort, 
and example, and the manner in which these are 
directed ? Man cannot be happy alone ; nor 
can he realize the fruition of enjoyment of which 
he is capable, independent of others. The 
Deity has willed it so, for the best of purposes, 
and his design has been secured by the constitu- 
tion which he has imparted to us. 

I. The relations of man with man in matters 
of morality, are of vital importance. Science and 
literature however, as complements of morality, 
and as branches of intellectual culture, afford 
numerous advantages; they refine the imagina- 
tion, and to a certain extent, purify the heart. 
How often have they assuaged the tedium of sick- 
ness and sorrow, as well as prevented the intole- 
rable incursions of mental weariness? Besides 
yielding a multitude of cheap, and easily accessible 
pleasures, they humanize the feelings, and pave 
the way for the reception of the better qualities 
of our nature. By approximating the humble in 
station to the affluent, they break down the un- 
natural trammels of society, and create a bond 
of union between nations and individuals. They 
furnish additional resources to meritorious in- 



ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 177 

dustry, and in a word, enhance and increase the 
pleasures of existence. Every one should be 
acquainted with the elements of science ; it would 
yield untiring recreation, promote health and 
moral well-being, lessen superstitious credences, 
and facilitate the production of the comforts of 
life. Scientific discoveries have economized time 
and labour, and virtually lessened the intervals 
of space. These things involve relations of the 
greatest moment between man and man, and 
without human intercourse, could never have 
been compassed. We have been intended for 
communion : this is proved by the mode of ac- 
quiring, and of communicating knowledge. An 
ample field of contemplation and instruction is 
left free to all ; all are endowed with equal wants, 
and with equal, or nearly equal capabilities. Our 
intellectual and moral, no less than our physical 
necessities, impel us to rest upon each other for 
assistance and support. The fine arts, as music, 
painting, sculpture and architecture, are allied 
with literature and moral science on the one side, 
and with physical science on the other. They 
heighten the amenities and the pleasures of life ; 
they improve the intellect, and judiciously di- 
rected, advance our whole nature. They at once 
allay the evils, and multiply the advantages of 
our earthly probation. Yet unquestionable as 
these benefits are, they sink into insignificance 
contrasted with those accruing from moral culture. 
This it is, which aggrandizes our being, and which 
renders all other endowments subordinate. 

M 



178 ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 

The relations of governors with the governed, 
and conversely, yield ample scope for extensive 
disquisition. Such, embrace the sciences of poli- 
tics and legislation, and numerous details in 
political economy. The best form of govern- 
ment, and the means of securing it, have caused 
bitter controversies for ages. A single individual 
rarely possesses sufficient information and dis- 
cretion, to undertake the exclusive and uncon- 
trolled charge of a nation. The most valuable 
results attendant on self-government, are the 
enlargement of understanding which the pro- 
cesses of deliberation and action induce. Never- 
theless, in countries wherein moral and intellec- 
tual enlightenment does not pervade the mass, a 
despotism of some kind is almost inevitable. 
When the people at large, are unable to appre- 
ciate the more solid features of human character, 
adventurers of superior energy and reckless da- 
ring, often succeed in grasping power. Even when 
chance or succession under such circumstances, 
places a man of sterling qualities on the throne, 
his will becomes inoperative, through the preju- 
dices of an ignorant and debased community. 
The progress of knowledge is slow, and cannot 
be forced. Improvements in governments, are 
contingent on those among the people ; beneficial 
changes seldom precede the intellectual capacities 
of either, and it cannot be too much regretted 
that the energies that might be devoted to the ad- 
vancement of both, are fruitlessly consumed in 
bloodshed and war. The best form of government 



ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 179 

is that which secures the good of the whole ; ar- 
rangements that only consult that of the minority, 
are indefensible. If existing governments be 
tried by this test, they fail, since the members of 
every community are in a condition with respect 
to comforts and enjoyments, far inferior to their 
requirements and their capabilities. Will any 
one contend that the existence of defects fur- 
nishes grounds for their continuance ? There is 
indeed, ample scope for the efforts of the philan- 
thropist, the legislator and the moralist. Men 
are everywhere more or less unhappy : even the 
favoured few, are not exempt ; for if there be 
misery or injustice anywhere, all must reap the 
consequences. If governments are able to pre- 
vent so many unhappy results, why do they not? 
They have singular, though in a measure, dor- 
mant powers of doing good. If further perfection 
await mankind, it must accrue from the joint 
cultivation of hand, head and heart, of all : now, 
it is amply in the power of governments to ensure 
this in young and old, in both sexes, and in every 
station. The wisest and best should be selected 
for the performance of legislative duties ; surely, 
talent and moral probity afford a better criterion, 
than mere wealth and station ? Until they are 
better informed, the people will not exert the 
necessary discrimination. From the obstructions 
which have been thrown in the way of know- 
ledge, it is evident that legislatures in general, 
have been anything but anxious to secure its pro- 
pagation. What should we think of a government 



180 ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 

that were to attempt to canopy out the light of 
heaven, and grant its admission to those alone, 
who could pay? Now this is what is too often 
done with regard to knowledge. Surely, a 
wiser and a happier posterity will hardly believe 
that such restrictions could ever have existed? 
Knowledge — moral and intellectual, is the light 
of the soul, and they who exclude it, are guilty 
of sinning against human nature. When it is 
more widely diffused, the people will become 
better acquainted with their rights, and better 
prepared for their temperate enforcement. The 
exaggerated and senseless partisanship which we 
too frequently witness, would be replaced by re- 
solute and sober inquiry, and the appointment of 
public functionaries would no longer be the sig- 
nal for outrage and violence. Were enlighten- 
ment general, would any man dare to sway the 
voices of the people by threats, or sinister influence? 
Talk of the expense contingent on the general 
diffusion of knowledge — rather let us speak of that 
which is connected with the jails, the bridewells 
and the penitentiaries, the enforcement of a san- 
guinary code, and the loss of property and life ; 
let us talk of the insecurity, the dread and the 
suffering, which attend the commission of crime, 
with all the countless evils that spring from igno- 
rance. Why should rulers seek any power 
beyond that of doing good? The better edu- 
cation of the mass; increased facilities for ac- 
quiring information, with the knowledge and 
exercise of political rights, would go far to ame- 



ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 181 

liorate the condition of mankind. When these 
advantages are secured, people will unite for 
rational purposes, and not merely to celebrate 
the orgies of intemperance, fanaticism, or party- 
feeling; while warned and instructed by the ca- 
lamities of the past, they will seek their happiness 
in the exercise of the means which supreme be- 
nevolence has placed at their disposal. 

II. Man's intellectual relations to the pheno- 
menal world have already been insisted on. It 
was repeatedly urged that a multitude of ideas 
were thus generated, and that our faculties were 
thereby stimulated to a high degree of activity. 
Outward objects have been placed in part, under 
human control, and in making a provision for our 
wants, our capabilities are developed. Thus, 
while we till the ground, or pursue the ocean 
track — in a word, while we bend the stubborn 
energies of nature to our purposes, they re-act 
upon ourselves, and produce modifications the 
most favourable to our advancement. Is it not 
a sublime provision by which it is enacted, that 
human faculties shall be eliminated in the ratio 
of their action on outward objects, and on them- 
selves ? It would be superfluous to enter into the 
varied details involved in the influence of the 
arts and sciences; suffice to say, their operation 
is endless. The action of mind on mind how- 
ever, is greater than that of all the powers of 
nature put together. Even the controversies, the 
battles and the agitation, with which the discus- 
sion of a multitude of topics has filled the world, 



182 ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 

stimulate inquiry, and by rousing the mind from 
the torpor of ignorance, prepare for the universal 
reign of equity and truth. Assuredly, when we 
reflect on the manifold operation of mind on mind, 
and on the influence of external nature, evolving 
our powers in the most systematic and orderly 
manner, it yields us a sublime example of Al- 
mighty Providence, and leads to the unavoidable 
conclusion, that a scene still more diversified, 
awaits us hereafter. 

HI. The relations that exist between the human 
soul and its divine Creator, are of measureless 
importance. If the magnificent spectacle of the 
starry sky, the broad earth, and all the wonders 
displayed around us, is calculated to raise hosts 
of ideas respecting each class of phenomena, how 
vast is the inference which we are thereby entitled 
to draw, with regard to the wisdom and power of 
the great Framer of all? Can it be supposed 
that he intended us to have a knowledge of them 
alone, or that his productions should be more wor- 
thy of consideration than himself? Great and va- 
luable as is the immediate knowledge which we 
derive from the works of God, it is vastly inferior 
to that which we also gain from them, as to his 
existence and sublime providence. The phe- 
nomena of creation could have no value without 
a Creator. Were it possible to arrive at the 
conclusion that this fair and wondrous world had 
no head, I could only wish to die. Existence 
would be priceless without a belief in God, and 
in the continuance of our being in a better world. 



ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 183 

I could sooner suppose a corpse to have never been 
fraught with life, a statue to have been hewn 
without hands, or a work of genius and intellect 
to have originated without a soul, as arrive at the 
conclusion that the universe had no God. As 
for those who can believe that an overruling wis- 
dom and an untiring benevolence, do not preside 
wherever there is light, and life, and being, we 
must grieve for their delusion, but rejoice that 
they are mistaken. It is exalting to acquire 
knowledge, and to imbue our hearts with the dic- 
tates of virtue, but it is elevating to the utmost, 
to know that there is One who is goodness and 
truth unalloyed. The phenomena of creation 
are valuable in themselves, but they are infinitely 
so, when viewed in relation to their Author. 
How cold and dry are the pursuits of science, 
when enlivened by no reference to Him, to whom 
science and truth alike owe their origin? 

The world is not God, nor any of the things 
which it contains — nor yet the mind of man, nor 
the stars of heaven, great and glorious though 
they be. Where then, does he reside, and on 
what do we found our belief in his being? The 
existence of our own minds is assured to us by 
consciousness, but as to the existence of those 
of others, we can only be indirectly aware. There 
is nothing uncertain however, in this assurance. 
No disbeliever ever doubted, that other men 
possessed the privilege of thought and feeling; 
their words and actions produce an unswerving- 
conviction. His belief on this head, is the joint 



184 ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 

result of sensation, testimony and reflection ; the 
conclusion is irresistible, and nothing can root it 
out. As the works, the words and the actions 
of man, indubitably prove the possession of 
thought and feeling — in a word, of a soul, so the 
world and all that it contains, man himself, with 
all animate and inanimate objects, demonstrate 
in a manner the most forcible, that there is an 
all-pervading principle which thinks and wills, 
and on which we bestow the name of God. The 
works of the Deity yield endless evidence of con- 
trivance and adaptation, harmony and variety; 
while they urge in terms, of which language is 
but a feeble transcript, his existence, his power, 
his knowledge and his goodness. Can there be 
power, where there is no one to exert it ; contriv- 
ance, without a contriver; or goodness, where 
there is no one good? Whether we survey the 
phenomena of creation through the medium of the 
heart or the understanding, they afford equal evi- 
dence of wisdom, goodness and power. 

The thoughtless and the unfeeling have said — 
we cannot see God; but can we see the human 
soul, and do we believe the less firmly, that it 
feels and thinks? The spirit of man is not ma- 
terial, nor is the spirit of God ; how then, can we 
expect that either should come within the scrutiny 
of our senses ? It is with the mind's eye that we 
must see God; it is with the heart that we must 
feel him. We learn to contemplate his wisdom, 
his excellence and his supreme power, in his pro- 
vidence and wonderful works. These discourse 



ON THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND. 185 

of him incessantly; these display in language 
that cannot be mistaken, his being, his wisdom 
and his might. It is vain to deny the inference. 
If the human mind can discern wisdom, power 
and excellence, in the great creation around us, 
there must be a Being who is all power, all wis- 
dom and all excellence. To gainsay this evi- 
dence, is only less deplorable than to ascribe 
qualities to the Deity, at variance with all the 
conceptions which we are able to frame, of su- 
perlative goodness and power. 

The habitual contemplation of the excellencies 
of God, and the practice of referring all things 
to his might, and their regulation to his provi- 
dence, besides the beneficent influence which they 
exercise on the heart, elevate and purify the 
reason itself. The man who has a firm convic- 
tion of the power and wisdom of the Deity, is 
saved from the contamination of a multitude of 
errors. He cannot admit anything that is dero- 
gatory to supreme wisdom and goodness ; he will 
perceive that every arrangement immediately or 
prospectively, is perfection, and he cannot be- 
lieve in any inadequate or inferior contrivance, 
or in any pernicious or unnecessary agency. 
All the laws of nature are recognized as bearing 
the Divine impress. In fine, by referring all 
things to God, and by ascribing wise and useful 
ends to everything within the sphere of our ob- 
servation, we come to possess the most intimate 
and unswerving conviction, of his majesty, wis- 
dom and truth. 



186 



CHAPTER XVII. 

ON THE PRIMARY EQUALITY OR INEQUALITY, AND 
ON THE PECULIAR TENDENCIES OF THE HUMAN 
INTELLECT. 



Some of the individuals by whom Homer, 
Milton, Dante and Newton, are in a manner 
deified, would look upon it as a kind of desecra- 
tion, were it asserted that equal capabilities 
existed undeveloped in multitudes of other men. 
Yet, if Locke, Tasso, Pascal or La Place, had 
been natives of Caffraria, could they possibly have 
acquired their respective eminence ? If it be ad- 
mitted that they could not, everything is granted 
that the adherents of opposite views could desire. 
Individuals vary both in acquirements and mental 
activity, but we are not entitled to ascribe this 
disparity to innate peculiarities, unless we fail in 
assigning an adequate external cause. The 
efforts of the mind itself, have a powerful influence 
in the production of mental and moral inequali- 
ties, but their primary impulse and direction, are 
derived from without. 

Is there an inborn tendency to any peculiar 
pursuit, science or art? We know nothing of 
the structure of the mind, much less are we able 
to discover any original bias to one occupation 
more than to another. We do indeed, witness 



ON PRIMARY EQUALITY OR INEQUALITY. 187 

the utmost diversity, but we cannot assign this to 
original tendencies, unless we fail in deriving it 
from the operation of outward agencies. It is 
not to be denied, that we possess wonderful ca- 
pabilities, but these are the attributes of our 
species at large ; and it is fallacious to assert, that 
an individual is destitute of them, when they have 
never been sought for, or cultivated. How enor- 
mous the mental and moral powers of mankind, 
and how inadequate their development? The 
genius of one generation too frequently becomes 
the pigmy of the next. In every age, individuals 
of superior energies and acquirements, have been 
looked upon as different from the rest of their 
species, not so much in virtue of those energies 
and acquirements, as from the belief to which 
their possession led, that their owners were beings 
of a different mould. The prejudice in favour of 
peculiar powers, has been injurious to the in- 
terests of education and of intellectual culture. 
Why should a man persevere, when he is per- 
suaded beforehand, that he cannot succeed? If 
the conviction were general, that each might 
shape his course and measure his progress for 
himself, it would prove a powerful incentive to 
steady exertion. People believe that they may 
proceed a certain length, but that the heights of 
science are barred against them; as if a farther 
progress should be less practicable than one al- 
ready achieved, and as if all progress did not re- 
sult from a conviction, however partial, in the 
efficacy of perseverance. If greater attention 



188 ON PRIMARY EQUALITY OR INEQUALITY. 

were paid to the influence of mental energy, and 
to the impulses of feeling and passion, less cre- 
dence would be yielded to the doctrine of innate 
peculiarities, whether as to power or kind. Un- 
swerving energy, continually bent in a given 
direction, urged by passion, overcoming every 
obstacle, and casting aside all distractions, is 
doubtless, adequate to the performance of any 
task within the compass of human abilities. It 
may be urged, that I am taking for granted the 
point at issue, and that this energy, and this pas- 
sion, are innate. If we examine into them, how- 
ever, we shall arrive at the conclusion, that they 
arise from the progressive action of outward 
agencies. The exertions of the lawyer, the sol- 
dier, the man of science, and the poet, take dif- 
ferent directions, and proceed with equal force, 
from the operation of different motives. Had it 
not been owing to the general amount of know- 
ledge, and to their individual position, those ad- 
mirable individuals who have adorned humanity, 
would not have appeared as such ; others would 
have filled their places, and names now unknown, 
would have gained the reverence of mankind. It 
is still urged however, that Newton and Milton 
would have distinguished themselves, though in a 
lesser degree, had they been born among sa- 
vages. We can hardly however, concede any- 
thing to the force of a hypothetical argument, 
founded on the possible occurrences of a circum- 
stance, to which reason and observation are alike 
opposed. We have no proof of any innate pecu- 



ON PRIMARY EQUALITY OR INEQUALITY. 189 

liarities whether mental or moral, or of superior 
or inferior capabilities, as regards literature, 
science or art. Men indeed, may be born blind 
or idiotic; but the latter is not to be ascribed 
to intellectual, but to defective corporeal or- 
ganization. How far the influence of bodily 
structure extends, we do not know, but we have 
reason to believe that in ordinary cases, it is 
quite inferior to that of mental and moral cul- 
ture. If superior qualities were hereditary, the 
wise and good would have children like them- 
selves, which assuredly is not the case. Let 
people however, pTace no feeble confidence in 
well-directed training; in strenuous attention, 
and in an- increasing love for knowledge, virtue 
and truth. 

The examples of eminent persons are continu- 
ally brought forward, and it is asked, could 
others become such as these? Yes, if they 
will make use of similar exertions, and if they 
enjoy equal opportunities. The estimate of hu- 
man talent however, is very variable ; information 
that would once have conferred eminence, no 
longer secures distinction. Millions have never 
heard of our greatest men; and thousands per- 
haps, of superlative attainments, members of 
distant communities, have gone to the dust un- 
known to us. How local is reputation ; to how 
many accidents is it subjected, and how few are 
the individuals whose claims are generally ad- 
mitted? The facility with which cultivated 
minds make fresh acquirements, is given as a 



190 ON PRIMARY EQUALITY OR INEQUALITY. 

proof of a naturally elevated intellect ; but it 
is not just to compare persons of superlative 
energies, with others in whom they have not been 
developed. Superior capabilities are the attri- 
bute of human nature, but not the exclusive 
prerogative of individuals. The opinion here 
adopted, may be true or it may be otherwise, 
but it is certain that continual efforts can never 
lose their value, as powerful agents in the de- 
velopment of the human mind. 

There is no sex in the mind. When circum- 
stances have permitted it, the female intellect has 
shone forth as brightly, in every department, as 
that of man. Female education however, is less 
attended to than it ought, and too soon discon- 
tinued. Superficial acquirements fill the place 
of solid instruction, so that the admirable capa- 
bilities of our common nature, have no adequate 
scope in one half the species. Even with its 
limited opportunities, what do we not owe to 
female intellect, and what might we not gain, 
were the cultivation of our common heritage 
attended to as it deserves? As for the sable 
race, it is hard to say when their intellectual 
emancipation is to be accomplished. Plunged 
in barbarism in their native regions, despised 
and degraded elsewhere, the dawn of their civi- 
lization seems remote. Educated negroes alone, 
are adequate to the work : the climate of central 
Africa is destructive to Europeans. A few thou- 
sand blacks annually distributed over Europe, 
usefully and practically educated, and furnished 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 1Q1 

with sound moral and religious instruction, would 
effect changes the most beneficial in the condition 
of their countrymen. The natives themselves, 
so far from throwing obstacles in the way, are 
desirous of obtaining the information of the whites. 
We can hardly hope however, to witness a phi- 
lanthropy so exalted, until the people of these coun- 
tries shall themselves, more fully enjoy the bles- 
sings of knowledge and civilization. The alleged 
inferiority of African intellect, is a prejudice so 
barbarous, as to be unworthy of refutation. Those 
who entertain it, have contracted it from the 
spectacle of slavery, as if the human mind, whether 
in blacks or in whites, would not languish in bon- 
dage. If ever the hand of benevolence shall ex- 
tend itself to the task, a rich and grateful harvest 
will be reaped in the glorious spectacle of hearts 
and intellects, glowing and awakening, under the 
radiance of the sun of knowledge and of truth. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART, AND ON THE BEST 
MEANS OF ACQUIRING A KNOWLEDGE OF THEM. 



1. Language, both spoken and written, is a 
case of association ; yet, we are so intimate with 
our mother tongue, that we find it difficult to be- 
lieve that there was a time when we were wholly 



192 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

ignorant of it. The connexion of a meaning with 
spoken or written words, is purely conventional. 
When we find natural objects however, to exhibit 
indications of wisdom and benevolence, we trans- 
fer to them the associations which the works of 
man have previously enabled us to form, though 
heightened by the vastly increased display which 
we are called upon to witness. It were erroneous 
therefore, to conclude, that language affords the 
only expression of reason and feeling. The works 
of nature bespeak as strongly, the wisdom and 
goodness of an over-ruling Providence, as if they 
were impressed with a written legend. A lan- 
guage may be lost or misinterpreted, but the 
productions of Divine power can never be mis- 
taken, by a grateful heart or a willing mind. 
Language is fluctuating and imperfect, but the 
manifestations of nature are unchangeable. The 
testimony of creation as to the attributes of God, 
is more faithful than that of language alone, which 
is but the transcript of a fact, and liable to alte- 
ration, error and decay. One is uncertain, the 
other is certain; one is fallible, the other is in- 
fallible; the one is from man, the other is from 
God. How great then, is the demonstration 
which the Deity thus yields us of himself, and 
what an unspeakable declaration does it not afford, 
of his power, his wisdom and his goodness, to the 
successive generations of men ? 

Language, as expressive of feeling, opinion and 
prejudice, may be from man to man, or through 
the instrumentality of books and other contri- 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 1Q3 

vances. The reception of truth, or its rejection 
from these sources, will depend upon our pre- 
vious discrimination and acquirements. The 
uninstructed listen to the fictions of imposture 
with eagerness, and perhaps treat with scorn and 
incredulity, the person who would disabuse them. 
Were ignorance replaced by knowledge, the 
blighting superstitions, and the unhappy practices 
which desolate the world, would disappear for ever. 
Men would dwell in the shadow of truth — they 
would be wise, they would be intelligent, they 
would be virtuous, and they would be happy. 

The process of acquiring language, science and 
art, is tedious and laborious. In well constituted 
minds indeed, there is associated with the task, 
an anticipation of good which lessens the drudg- 
ery, until by a beautiful provision, the pleasure 
overcomes the pain. We should err were we to 
complain of the toil attendant on mental indus- 
try, inasmuch, as it enables us to appreciate the 
knowledge which we gain, and to value it in 
others. Information will not come by intuition, 
nor unsought be won. It is co-ordinate with the 
application by which it has been secured. This 
in itself, is a good; it realizes in part, the end 
which we have in view, and by the satisfaction 
associated with it, is an ever-growing source of 
delight. Thus, exertion realizes knowledge, as, 
well as peace, and joy, and satisfaction with- 
out end. 

The acquisition of knowledge embraces many 
particulars. The grand problem however, is to 



194 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

determine the means of acquiring the greatest 
sum, within a given period. Our physical and 
our moral well-being nevertheless, must not be 
sacrificed in the pursuit: the knowledge that 
should involve this* would be a vain acquirement. 
The organization imposes certain limits; there 
are boundaries which the utmost application will 
not enable us to pass. If we would attempt more ; 
if we would labour for a longer period, our efforts 
languish, and finally pause. The body has 
claims which cannot be slighted; the heart like- 
wise, requires culture. 

The first great division with respect to the 
acquisition of knowledge, is that into immediate, 
and derived. There must be a balance between 
the two. If we devote exclusive attention to 
books, we heap our memories with mere verbal 
formularies ; while we err not less egregiously, if 
we place too much reliance on our limited per- 
sonal observation. We must study nature in her 
various forms with assiduity and attention ; refer 
to faithful records in order to gain facts which 
have not come before us; repeat the discoveries 
of others, and if possible, extend the great field 
of knowledge itself. Thus, in language, we 
should study the best models ; learn the vocabu- 
lary of our mother tongue ; acquire a fund of the 
choicest expressions and ideas, and lastly, addict 
ourselves to the steady and careful practice of 
composition. In science, we ought to select the 
best and most copious repertories of facts ; learn, 
and verify them by referring to nature ; compose 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 1 ( J5 

scientific tracts, and finally, try to add to the sum 
of what is known. In art also, we should select 
the best models; copy and analyze them inces- 
santly ; study the origin of art in nature, and test 
the works of artists by the same unerring stan- 
dard and by each other ; compose for ourselves, 
and add to the dominion of art itself. 

I. The process by which we acquire the mo- 
ther tongue, is at once curious and interesting. 
We witness the performance of given actions 
along with certain expressions, until eventually, 
the two are connected in the mind. Names of 
persons and things are incessantly uttered around 
us, so that in time, we come to acquire a multi- 
tude of expressions with their uses. The titles 
of actions and feelings also, are learned by con- 
tinual association. Children do not begin to 
speak until they have acquired a considerable 
stock of information ; the faculty would be super- 
fluous at an earlier period. When we consider 
the number of associations that must exist be- 
tween sounds and the forms of words, before a 
child can read, it yields a high conception of the 
ductility of our organs, as well as of the powers 
of the human mind. The first thing is the utte- 
rance of individual sounds; then, their proper 
sequence and rythm, and lastly, the connexion 
of the meaning with words and their combina- 
tions. Language, is of such importance as a 
means of information, that anything by which its 
acquirement is facilitated, becomes of consequence. 
In place of commencing with the usual elemen- 



396 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

tary works, it has been proposed to make use of 
one abounding with ordinary difficulties, and to 
pronounce, spell and learn by heart, the words 
syllables and letters, sentence by sentence, in suc- 
cession. When the first fifty or hundred pages 
are committed to memory, and gone over in por- 
tions, daily, it serves to lay the foundation of a 
good supply of words and phrases. Great stress 
is laid on an acquaintance with the syllables, and 
with their separate meanings and powers ; for as 
every language however copious, is made up of 
comparatively few of the former, the after pro- 
gress is thereby, materially facilitated. It is de- 
sirable to inquire the signification of everything 
that is learned, as it forces the pupil to think, 
and prepares the way for further acquisitions. 
Explanations of every kind, since they have an 
opposite tendency, so far as it is possible, are to 
be avoided. Ready-made questions and answers 
are absurd, and to commit to memory, unless 
when learning one's own or another language, is 
a fruitless consumption of time and labour. The 
various facts of history and science, can be ac- 
quired without storing up useless formularies of 
words. Choice passages of prose or poetry may 
form exceptions, but few things are more calcu- 
lated to weary and disgust, than perpetually 
learning by rote without end or object. 

Were a child habitually placed in the best and 
most rational society, every one can imagine 
the advantages that would accrue. Now, this is 
in some measure secured, by making him learn 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 197 

by heart, and repeat daily, for a considerable pe- 
riod, a portion of some good author. Whatever 
enables us to learn language quickly and well, 
adds further duration, and fresh powers to our 
being. It fortunately happens that we cannot 
gain possession of it, without obtaining more or 
less information at the same time, so that it is in 
a manner, both means and end. How rapid is 
the progress of one who is familiar with his mo- 
ther tongue; and how slow and painful, that of 
one who is ignorant of it ? Many advantages are 
justly alleged to flow from the study of other lan- 
guages, but these in most cases, might be secured 
without going so far in search of them. What- 
ever benefit may thus accrue, nothing can excuse 
inattention to our own language, since our intel- 
lectual advancement is mainly based on its culti- 
vation. 

When the child has fairly committed his author, 
or a portion of it, to memory ; when he can spell, 
punctuate, and write it from memory, with accu- 
racy, and reply to any question however involved, 
that relates to its contents, he may proceed, al- 
ways continuing the repetition, to the next stage. 
He will commence the portion which he has not 
got by heart, and read a few pages several times 
carefully over; the book being then closed, he 
will relate the substance of these, and write it 
down. This will be imperfectly done at first, but 
practice will give expertness. Important parti- 
culars should be made the subject of habitual 
interrogation. When the book has been thus re- 



198 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

lated, its contents will become the foundation of 
a variety of themes and exercises. A list of se- 
lect works may be subsequently perused; the 
number to be regulated by the circumstances of 
the case. Grammar may now be attended to, 
and not before, inasmuch as language gives rise 
to grammar, and not grammar to language. It 
should be read, and not committed to memory, 
while illustrative examples may be quoted from 
the initiatory work. A year or two of such a 
process, would be highly useful to the children of 
the working classes ; it would also, answer admir- 
ably in adult schools. The mother tongue must 
be the leading instrument in civilization. Ma- 
terials are cheap and accessible, and any intelli- 
gent person — a parent or otherwise, with patience 
and a willing mind, is adequate to their employ- 
ment. Only let the intelligence be firmly and 
mildly awakened, and kept steadily turned in the 
proper direction. 

When a tolerable familiarity has been gained 
with the mother tongue, collateral studies, such 
as logic, rhetoric and metaphysics, may be pur- 
sued with advantage. The best work is to be 
selected on each, and not given up, until its con- 
tents have been thoroughly mastered. During 
the whole period of study, habits of composition 
and revision are to be sedulously maintained. 
The advantages thereby derived, are so great, 
that it is difficult to exaggerate them. Until our 
knowledge is placed in this objective form, we 
are not aware of what we know, or what we can 



OX LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 199 

do. Language is so closely interwoven with our 
thoughts and feelings, that a happy command of 
it, is an unceasing source of profit and pleasure. 
Written composition brings our knowledge afresh 
before us, while it causes us to ponder upon, and 
to examine it, in all its bearings. Oral composi- 
tion, though tending less to correctness, has some 
physical advantages, in which the former is defi- 
cient ; it may be practised in the open air, by the 
mountain side, or by the sea shore. Composition 
stimulates and promotes that invaluable possession, 
in which so many are deficient — mental and moral 
energy. It also lights up the ardour so necessary 
to successful intellectual effort. Some may ask 
— why this labour, why this toil ? It will not in- 
deed, promote the gratifications of sense, but it 
will serve the interests of our hearts and under- 
standings, as beings who look forward to futurity. 
II. The time which we devote to lano-uacfe, is 
so much abstracted from the active pursuits of 
life, and the cultivation of more solid attainments. 
Our native tongue however, is an exception, since 
it paves the way for every other branch of know- 
ledge. There can be no excuse for extending a 
preference to dead languages, to the neglect of 
living. It is absurd to write good Latin or Greek, 
to the prejudice of correct English. Boys will 
often have read a number of the ancient classics, 
when perhaps, they may not have studied one of 
their own. Vicarious, though inferior advan- 
tages, may doubtless, be obtained from the former ; 
but it should be held as inviolate, that the mother 



200 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

tongue is to occupy the first place. If after this, 
there be sufficient leisure, from the pursuits of 
science, and the business of life, a portion of time 
may be usefully devoted to ancient and modern 
literature. 

The evils arising from an over-addiction to ob- 
solete dialects, have been aggravated by the man- 
ner in which they are taught. Seven years are 
not an uncommon period to spend at a grammar 
school: at college, four more are taken up, per- 
haps without attaining to the requisite familiarity. 
The intricacies, the abstractions, and the philoso- 
phy of language, should be attended to after the 
latter itself, is substantially gained. With labour 
and time indeed, we learn, let the process be what 
it may; but the question is, not what may be 
done merely, but by what means the greatest and 
most permanent acquirements, are to be realized 
in a given period, and with a given amount of 
labour. The acquisition of knowledge is slow 
and laborious ; but it is wrong to chain down the 
attention of a poor child to half a dozen subjects, 
any one of which, would demand the vigorous 
exertion of adult intellect. Most languages con- 
tain from sixty to eighty thousand words each, 
radicals and compounds inclusive, besides nume- 
rous idioms ; now it is far from uncommon to see 
young people of both sexes, studying two or more 
at once. What useful result can be anticipated, 
when the mind is permitted to waste its powers 
over such a surface : fleeting and superficial at- 
tainments, are but a poor return for ruined health 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 201 

and jaded powers. The acquisition to which so 
many are condemned, made only to be forgotten, 
excites a feeling of regret that their capabilities 
were not turned in a more useful direction. 

In learning a dead language, any good author, 
with an accurate, yet not literal translation, is to 
be selected. The powers of the letters are stated 
in every grammar, while the pronunciation ac- 
cording to the practice of every nation, follows 
that of the mother tongue. Classical writers 
should be read just as they are written; custom 
will reconcile us to their inversions and pecu- 
liarities. Difficulties seemingly insurmountable, 
will be smoothed over ; new passages will inter- 
pret the old, and our knowledge and facility will 
augment as we proceed. Exertion is required at 
first, yet children learn their mother tongue 
without translations or explanations of any kind. 
A continual repetition must be kept up from the 
beginning, dividing the book into daily portions 
so as to suit convenience. Singular facility is 
thereby imparted, and the learner is so familia- 
rized with the language, that he can no more for- 
get it than his own. Patience, industry and 
intelligence, are the leading requisites, and with 
these, the pupil will learn surely and well, though 
the director of his studies may not himself, be 
conversant with them. Thus, the anxious parent 
may readily superintend the progress of a willing 
child, without interfering with the efforts which 
are necessary for the evolution of his faculties. 

When the text-book, whether Greek or Latin, 



202 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

has been completed, and when the student can 
peruse it with the fluency with which he would 
read his mother tongue, let him select other 
works, and master them in the same efficient man- 
ner. As he goes on, he will find his task become 
gradually lighter, and experience less and less 
occasion for his translations, until he is able to do 
without them altogether. This is self-evident, 
because the words and idioms in any language 
are limited, and because authors must repeat 
themselves and one another incessantly, not only 
in words and phrases, but in thoughts also. If 
the pupil however, from any motive, should wish 
to compose in these ancient tongues, let him fol- 
low in all respects, the counterpart of the pro- 
cess already laid down. Let him translate and 
closely analyze, the first fifty or one hundred 
pages of his author, also learning them by heart, 
and repeating them in daily portions. Let him 
be able to write them correctly from memory, 
and let him be minutely and successively ques- 
tioned over the whole, replying in the words of 
the text. When this has been accomplished, let 
him proceed to the next portion ; translate a little 
carefully; shut the book; relate, and then write 
down the substance of what he has said, in the 
language of the original. He should go through 
the whole work in this manner, repeating daily, 
a half or a fourth of what he has committed to 
memory. He may now commence a new series 
of exercises, such as parallels, comparisons and 
descriptions. It will be impossible to employ 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 203 

improper terms, or worse language than that of 
the model; while practice will confer every de- 
sirable facility. 

III. As to modern languages, the process is 
altogether analogous; it is better however, to 
commence with a prose author; while the pro- 
nunciation, if possible, is to be learned from one 
who is practically acquainted with it. The in- 
tellectual advantages accruing from their cultiva- 
tion, are equal, while the contingent ones are 
greater, than with respect to obsolete dialects. 
The ablest imitators of the classics are neglected 
or forgotten. It is trifling to urge the study of 
Greek or Latin, as a means of facilitating the ac- 
quirement of the languages derived from them — 
as if the converse were not equally true. Were 
the principle followed up, we should have to trace 
their ramifications from the beginning. To any 
one who has paid attention to the structure of 
language, it will be evident, that we cannot be- 
come intimately acquainted even with one, with- 
out much time, and considerable exertion; it is 
certain however, that the more the process is 
approximated to the one by which we learn our 
native tongue, and recedes from the absurd and 
barbarous practice of making the abstractions of 
grammar the only inlet, with so much the more 
ease, speed and certainty, shall we arrive at the 
wished-for result. 

2. The acquisition of science reposes on similar 
principles; the general cultivation of the mind 
however, should go before, or the progress made, 



204 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

will otherwise be imperfect. It is not absolutely 
necessary that the teacher or director should be 
a scientific man, but it is quite so, that the ad- 
vance of the pupil should not be marred by over 
explanation. The apparent progress will be 
slower at first, but the zeal will be greater. The 
learner should be so conducted, that the solution 
of each succeeding difficulty is facilitated by 
the facts previously acquired; and, the atten- 
tion, without being over excited, kept ever on the 
alert. Our estimate is to be grounded, not so 
much on the apparent attainments, as on the de- 
velopment of the faculties ; this is the real pro- 
gress, the rest is a delusion. What spectacle can 
be more painful, than that of a herd of children 
urged forward, almost wholly ignorant of what 
they are supposed to acquire? Books are not 
always drawn up, so as to suit the wants of 
learners. How few resemble Euler's Algebra, 
of which the arrangement is so simple, and the 
details so perspicuous, that the mere dictation of 
it to a poor shoemaker, enabled the latter, it is 
said, to acquire the art ? It is not proper to write 
in such a manner, as to require an interpreter. 
The learner should explain to the teacher; but 
the converse is hurtful, inasmuch as it leaves the 
faculties of the former in disuetude. How is it 
indeed, that the ablest proficients are often those, 
who have had little or no extraneous assistance; 
or how has science itself, been pursued from dis- 
covery to discovery, through untrodden paths ? 
The best and most perspicuous work having 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 205 

been chosen, the pupil will apply himself to the 
first section. He must write out summaries of 
the rules; analyze the principles on which they 
repose, and invent questions for solution. He 
should also, be able to explain everything circum- 
stantially, and reply to any questions to which 
his subject may involve answers. Every detail 
may not be intelligible at first, but difficulties will 
gradually unravel themselves. Science, in one 
sense, is a circle, and it is hardly possible to com- 
mence with principles so elementary, as not to 
include several admissions. The first section 
having been thoroughly mastered, the second is 
to be gone over in the same effective manner, and 
so on, till the work is completed. Rules and 
facts recur continually; hence, the necessity, in 
order to secure an indelible impression, of fre- 
quent repetition, as well as of a perfect knowledge 
of each succeeding portion. The pupil should be 
thrown as much as possible, on his own resources, 
and every proper means made use of, that will 
stimulate exertion and attention. The only real 
progress is that which is founded on the de- 
velopment of the faculties; powerful and often 
reiterated impressions, like inscriptions hewn in 
granite, acquire a permanence that is not to be 
eradicated. Thus, the student will ascend from 
subject to subject, and from science to science, 
by steps duly subordinate to each other, until his 
acquirements reach the term which his position, 
his ambition, or his time warrants. When the 
text-book is concluded, the pupil may scan the 



206 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

contents of other leading works, to acquire such 
facts and general views, as may not previously 
have come before him. It is difficult to urge in 
terms sufficiently forcible, the importance of at- 
tention, repetition, composition, revision, and 
analysis. Until an individual is able to extem- 
porize, orally or in writing, without error or 
omission, the principles of science, he cannot be 
said to be perfectly acquainted with them. 

3. Our progress in art is founded on rules 
analogous to those already laid down; inasmuch 
as the advance of the human mind, and the mode 
of its operation, are in every case alike. The 
study however, is complicated with additional 
influences, and he, who to a sound and cultivated 
taste, adds the softer impulses of the heart, will 
best succeed. When I speak of art, it is in the 
most enlarged sense, as comprising the principles 
and practice of poetry, music, painting, statuary 
and architecture ; as they relate to the intellect, 
the imagination, and the feelings, and as con- 
nected with the phenomena of nature, and the 
usages of human life. Its relations with know- 
ledge at large, must be duly cultivated, to which 
must be added a familiar acquaintance with its 
canons and visible results. Without imagination, 
we must confine ourselves to bald imitations of 
what has been done by others ; without feeling, 
a man may be a correct and frigid copyist — he 
may be industrious — nay indefatigable, but he 
cannot be an artist. If discrimination and in- 
formation however, be wanting, the feelings are 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 207 

apt to be misdirected; and without practical 
ability, an individual may be a good judge, but 
he will be unable to realize his own conceptions. 
Mere mechanism is not sufficient, but it is the 
necessary complement of other acquirements. 
Great stress is to be laid on passion and intel- 
lect; these supply the impulses and the motives 
for that immense series of exertions, without 
which, no one need hope to attain mediocrity, 
much less arrive at excellence. The mind should 
be saturated with forms of truth and beauty, which 
it should be a continual effort to embody in the 
productions of our industry. Though we cannot 
realize all our conceptions, we should ever strive 
to do so. The imaginings of the artist however, 
are not wholly lost ; they furnish endless themes 
wherewith to occupy the mind, and to delight the 
heart. But if there be one truth in nature more 
certain than another, it is, that without feeling, 
it is impossible to become an artist of the right 
stamp. A portion of the knowledge, as well as 
of the feelings of every superior artist, will be 
peculiar to himself, and to a certain extent, in- 
communicable. No one however, need hope to 
exhaust the subject; and though it should be our 
highest effort to combine as many of them as we 
can, we shall find the prototypes of nature, of 
endless variety. 

I. The mind itself, is the ultimate vehicle of 
every kind of emotion, whether pleasurable or 
painful ; the satisfaction produced by music how- 
ever, is owing partly to association, and partly 



208 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

to the structure of the ear. How could the gra- 
tification which is yielded by delightful melody, 
or full rich harmony, be ascribable to the former 
alone ? Nothing can render the discord in itself, 
pleasing ; the distinction is marked out by nature, 
and cannot be invaded. Whatever instrument 
be selected, the great requisites are execution, 
expression, and lastly, scientific knowledge. Me- 
thod may direct, but cannot create feeling ; yet, 
without this, no one can be a musician. There 
may be execution, but the soul of music — the 
quality, without which, the art is but the husk or 
shell, is wanting. Faultless execution is neces- 
sary to do justice to feeling, imagination and 
judgment: for of what avail is it to feel, if we 
cannot reproduce our emotions? Without the 
foregoing requisites, the most admirable com- 
positions fall dead upon the ear: with them, 
indifferent, and even imperfect productions, tell. 
Some instruments are provided with an auto- 
matic harmony and melody ; others derive these 
from the performer. The great principle should 
be held sacred in music, as in every other intel- 
lectual manifestation — the learner should be left 
as much as possible to his own resources, and 
encouraged to cultivate them to the utmost. We 
can only learn by the exercise of our own ener- 
gies, and gain expression by the dictates of our 
own hearts. The prototypes of art exist in na- 
ture, or how could art have sprung from nothing ? 
All the tones which human skill has produced, 
reside in the former. Artificial models are not 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 20Q 

to be neglected, but we should revert from time 
to time, to their real source. The productions 
of art to the archetypes of nature, are as one to 
infinity ; shall we confine ourselves to the limited 
stores of the one, when we can have access to the 
countless treasures of the other ? 

The instrument and the instruction-book having 
been selected, the pupil will commence an air at 
once. All the marks indicative of base, treble 
and time, should be learned consentaneously. 
The first air should not be quitted, until it is per- 
fectly mastered ; and it should be made the basis 
of a rigid interrogation, in all respects, the coun- 
terpart of what has been laid down for language. 
Others, in succession, should be acquired, repeat- 
ing the whole, or portions of them, each day, from 
the beginning. As the pupil proceeds, his skill 
and knowledge will increase progressively; he 
will learn the various artifices of music, and the 
wonderful combinations of the octave. For a 
mere performer, it is enough to play the contents 
of the instruction-book, and to continue the assi- 
duous practice of selected pieces. To be a com- 
poser, it is necessary, not only to know these by 
heart, but to be able to write them correctly from 
memory ; to be aware of the different forms of 
notation, and to analyze the structure of musical 
phrases and passages. The pupil will therefore, 
take an overture, and practise a page or two, till 
he can perform it at sight; then, shutting his 
book, he will improvise or relate on his instru- 
ment, in correct rythm and harmony, the leading 

o 



210 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

ideas which the portion contains. This will be 
done imperfectly and hesitatingly at first, but 
time and practice, will confer confidence and 
ability. When the improvisation has been 
finished, let it be carefully committed to paper, 
and so on in succession, until the overture is com- 
pleted. A number of pieces, involving the beau- 
ties and the difficulties of the art, must now be 
played over, and improvised in the same manner ; 
the exercise-book being habitually repeated. It 
is said that execution, and a facility of playing at 
sight, have been acquired by means of the fore- 
going process, within the year. Surely, anything 
that smooths the acquisition of knowledge, adds 
power and duration to human existence. Con- 
tinued analysis, and the appreciation of the emo- 
tions connected with certain combinations of 
sounds, prepare the pupil for original composi- 
tion. Practice will confer ease, and it will not 
be difficult to attach accompaniments to poetical 
passages, as well as to produce pieces of music in 
every line of composition, that shall express the 
varied emotions of the human heart. The theory 
may be studied in appropriate works ; but it is a 
prejudice that would insist upon an acquaintance 
with it, as indispensable. Were the authors of 
those beautiful airs which abound over the world, 
and which are handed down from generation to 
generation, as talismans of joy and happiness, 
familiar with the theory of music? Science 
alone, will not make a composer, and without ex- 
pression, music is but noise and jargon. Were 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 211 

it rendered more accessible, this admirable art 
would gladden and purify more generally, the 
habits and the feelings of mankind. 

II. Painting, statuary, and architecture, come 
under the same category ; the principles on which 
they repose are alike, and the mode of studying 
them is the same. Statuary surpasses architec- 
ture, inasmuch as the representation of beauty, 
intellect, and passion, must be more interesting, 
as well as more difficult, than that of inanimate 
forms. Painting, again, includes nearly all that 
is of importance in statuary, with the addition of 
a greater multiplicity of objects, and all the de- 
tails of colouring and perspective. The student 
should bring a high degree of intellectual and 
moral culture to the task; he should acquire a 
keen perception of truth and excellence, and 
finally, he should be indefatigable in the pursuit. 
He must analyze details, and lay up a store of 
facts ; and these, he should be assiduous in build- 
ing up in new forms. Without mental cultiva- 
tion and general information, there can be no 
adequate appreciation of the numerous relations 
by which the principles of art are connected with 
each other, and with science at large. And 
without a taste for nature, which contains the 
archetypes of all art, the student cannot verify 
its truth, much less profit by the appropriations 
which have been effected during so long a series 
of years. Art is ever progressive, and if we do 
not avail ourselves of what has been done by 
others, we are in the position of the individual, 



212 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

by whom art itself, was first cultivated. If the 
artist be without feeling, his works will be defi- 
cient in grace, loveliness, and verisimilitude; 
they may have the form indeed, but they will be 
destitute of soul and expression. Yet, without 
prodigious industry, the preceding requisites are 
useless. This is a condition to which all are sub- 
ject. Nothing short of long-continued practice 
can confer excellence. 

The importance of practice being so great, the 
student should begin with it at once. He should 
imitate line sketches, continually repeating them, 
and comparing the copy with the original. Shaded 
sketches, busts, statues, and pictures in oil, may 
follow; studying, repeating and revising them 
incessantly, until every defect disappears. In 
this way, the pupil will gain a practical know- 
ledge of light and shade, colouring and perspec- 
tive. The study of the theory of art, and of the 
related sciences, optics and anatomy, as well as 
of the poetry of art, should be pursued conjointly. 
The best initiation will be the study of good 
models, and their incessant imitation with chisel, 
pencil, and the hand of the modeller. The 
relative proportions of architectural monuments, 
should be deeply graven on the mind. When 
the student can copy approved models with ease 
and accuracy ; when he is familiar with their de- 
tails, he may proceed to original compositions of 
his own, and to the imitation of nature. From 
first to last, the artist must be no less assiduous 
in the study of nature, than in that of the works 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 213 

of the best masters. He must begin by indefati- 
gably copying these, and end by habits of origi- 
nal composition, not less indefatigable. Unless 
furnished with a copious flow of ideas from every 
source, how can he hope to compose anything 
worthy of admiration, or even to realize his own 
conceptions ? 

Art is exhaustless, but life is short. Eminence 
is not to be attained without time and energy; 
and even after the devotion of a life, how rarely 
do we witness the union of many excellencies? 
When we reflect on the advantages derivable 
from art, and on the applications of which it is 
susceptible to some of the best interests of man- 
kind, we cannot but regret that so great a source 
of human happiness, should not be better and 
more generally cultivated. With reference to 
music, whether in the solemn chaunt, the choral 
voices of numbers, the thrilling accents of pas- 
sion, and the varied delights of instrumental har- 
mony ; painting and statuary, whether they em- 
body the beauty and the admirable details of the 
human form, or express the lineaments of thought 
and feeling ; and architecture, whether it trans- 
form the rude dwellings of the savage, into edi- 
fices of surpassing grandeur and magnificence — 
they yield increased scope, as well as further hap- 
piness, purity and joy, to our moral and intellec- 
tual being. 

III. The arts involve the general cultivation 
of the mind; the study of the best models; the 
analysis of their merits and defects; a minute 



214 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

acquaintance with rules, and their incessant ap- 
plication. These particulars are more especially 
true with regard to poetry, which if possible, de- 
mands intellectual efforts still more extended, a 
purer taste, and longer practice. It is almost 
needless to urge again, the necessity of cultivated 
feelings ; the most lively imagination cannot sup- 
ply their place. A commanding intellect is re- 
quisite to comprehend the subtle changes of the 
human heart, and without it, no one need hope 
to be a poet or to relish poetry. An assiduous 
perusal of the master-pieces of every age and 
country, a minute familiarity with the rules of 
criticism, and incessant practice, are all superla- 
tively necessary. The student should almost 
know these master-pieces by heart; his mind 
should be saturated with their excellencies, the 
graces of their diction, and the harmony and per- 
fection of their ry thm ; while he should be deeply 
imbued with the superior emotions, and elevated 
sentiments which they are intended to call forth. 
His knowledge must not be merely verbal, but of 
the heart; unless the student can feel, as well as 
understand, what the masters have said and sung, 
he need never hope to become one. There are 
numerous aspirants, and but few proficients: 
people will not, or cannot take the pains; yet 
nature has implanted capabilities in all. A facility 
in writing correct rhyme or blank verse, is easily 
obtained ; it is but a mechanical adjunct however, 
and may be exercised without a particle of feeling. 
When we reflect upon the necessity of correct 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 215 

thought and feeling, we shall not wonder at the 
difficulties which must be met and conquered, 
before poetry can be successfully cultivated. An 
ill-directed enthusiasm, in which people essay 
flights beyond their powers, must be fruitless. 
They would reap the harvest before the seed has 
been sown, or the ground prepared for its recep- 
tion. The Muses cannot be taken by storm; 
they must be approached by slow degrees, and 
long-continued toil. If those who court their fa- 
vour, will bring cultivated intellects and feeling 
hearts to the task, they may hope, if they possess 
unflinching industry, to wear the golden crown. 
How few however, exhibit these requisites; and 
of those who do, how many are cut short in the 
midst of their career, chilled by the hardships, 
the slights, and the consuming cares, which are 
the heritage of this mortal coil ? The individual 
who would succeed in this glorious art, must 
energize his whole being in the pursuit. He 
should study the works of the masters, with un- 
relaxing ardour ; he should practise composition, 
with the utmost care, and the most unrelenting 
self- correction ; he should mix with his fellows in 
every gradation of society, and in every condition 
of life, and he should commune with nature in all 
her aspects — whether on the mountain side or 
by the grassy mead — the gentle rivulet or the 
roaring cataract — the calm lake or the stormy sea. 
Every collateral means should be employed, that 
will improve his taste and judgment, and purify 
his moral feelings. He should study human na- 



236 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

ture in every form ; in the page of history, and 
in the current of passing events ; in the records 
of revolution and violence, and in the privacy of 
domestic life ; in the fierce passions that threaten 
empires, the tumults of fanaticism, bigotry and 
intolerance, and in those superior aspects in which 
the better feelings develop themselves in deeds 
of devotion, benevolence and love. He should 
endeavour to scan the heart and intellect in all 
their phases, and to appreciate alike, the sleeping 
and the impassioned soul, its hidden thoughts and 
outward manifestations ; and above all, he should 
recollect, that the art which he cultivates, can 
only be worthily exercised in promoting the well- 
being and the elevation of humanity, and in the 
decoration and support of virtue and excellence, 
in opposition to ignorance, misery and vice, and 
all the ills that lord it over the best interests of 
mankind. 

4. It is a baneful error which asserts that the 
adult intellect, when actuated by sufficient mo- 
tives, is less equal to the acquisition of knowledge 
than that of the young. Men are unconscious of 
their actual capabilities ; overwhelmed with indo- 
lence and distraction, they are not less averse to 
energetic efforts, than they are destitute of the 
incitements which lead to them. They are re- 
pressed by want of confidence, and by the arduous 
nature of continued exertion. How is their at- 
tention to be turned aside from their passions, 
their prejudices, their misfortunes, their animosi- 
ties, and their love of ease; or how are we to 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 217 

paint, in sufficiently glowing terms, the glories 
and the delights of knowledge, and the infinite 
exaltation of the instructed moral man? Not- 
withstanding the feats of industry for which some 
have been conspicuous, it is probable, if we con- 
sider the grandeur and immensity of human 
powers, that the most energetic individuals who 
ever lived, have not performed all that they were 
capable of doing. Even of those who have dis- 
tinguished themselves in early life, how many 
have swerved from the onward path ? No boun- 
dary can be placed to the acquisitions of him who 
wills with energy, and executes with decision. 
Let 'him, years of whose life have passed away 
unimproved, reflect, that with resolution and in- 
dustry, he may accomplish everything to which a 
reasonable ambition can aspire ; let him consider 
that no one can set a term to his efforts, or to his 
acquirements, and that the domain of knowledge 
is open to all. Additions to great attainments 
are slowly made, and it is perhaps less easy for 
the possessors of such, to advance farther, than for 
beginners to fill up an equal measure. 

I. In the education of facts, the great object is 
to make children observe and reflect; without 
this, previous acquisitions are but matters of rote, 
well enough as a means, but worthless as an end. 
They may be brought into frequent contact with 
instructive prints, interesting plants, minerals, 
animals, and the ordinary productions of human 
industry. The attention must not be distracted, 
or the memory fatigued, by too much variety; 



218 ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 

the great thing is to create a lively interest, and 
by judicious repetition and interrogation, to secure 
the retention of what has been learned. It is ob- 
viously better, to bring things directly under the 
operation of the senses ; description merely, is a 
subsidiary process. The world around, is full of 
wonders; every situation is replete with objects 
of interest. The metals with which our dwellings 
abound; their origin in the bowels of the earth, 
and their conversion, by human skill, into articles 
of ornament and utility ; the transparent stone in 
the windows ; the wood, and the materials from re- 
mote quarters of the globe; the varied stuffs; 
the stained paper, and the pitchy coal that gives 
out light and heat, constitute a fund of copious 
instruction. Why not make the child acquainted 
with the names, uses and structure, of everything 
that he sees ; how contributions have been levied 
on all the kingdoms of nature, and how the Deity, 
through his infinite wisdom, goodness and power, 
has furnished so many appliances, for the promo- 
tion of human comfort, and human happiness. 

The systems, as they are styled, of the different 
benevolent individuals, who have turned their at- 
tention to early education, have not been examined. 
Any system, so far as it is correct, must be 
founded on the capabilities of the human mind, 
and on the adaptation of general principles to 
particular circumstances. There is but one 
system, and that is the system of nature, and any 
one, that is not in accordance with it, must be 
erroneous or superfluous. The individual who 



ON LANGUAGE, SCIENCE AND ART. 219 

approximates us to this, and enables us to know 
more of it, is entitled to our reverence and esteem. 
It is thus, that Fellenberg, by seizing every op- 
portunity during work, meals and play, to com- 
municate useful knowledge, to draw valuable 
inferences, and to form habits of reflection and 
exertion ; Pestalozzi, by addressing himself to the 
affections of his pupils, and leading them, not 
only to knowledge, but to the love of God and 
man; Jacotot, by shewing the enormous utility 
of self-exertion, repetition, interrogation, and 
composition; Bell and Lancaster, by the united 
instruction of numbers; Wood, by dwelling on 
facts and rational interrogation; and Owen, by 
founding infant schools, and by shewing how the 
heart and intellect may be cultivated from an 
early period— not to mention other benevolent 
men, have claimed, and won the approbation of 
every well-wisher of his species. Let us avail 
ourselves of the efforts and instruction of all, but 
let nature be our leading guide. 

II. The pursuit of information should ever be 
subordinate to its general utility and importance ; 
the absence of this precaution has led to an infi- 
nity of disastrous results. Assuredly, it is a sa- 
cred duty not to neglect the manner in which a 
young person spends his time, or how he may 
best prepare for the business of life. Some are 
occupied with ancient, when they should be ac- 
quiring modern languages, or attend to language, 
when they should be occupied with science. In 
every pursuit, unless we would mar the useful- 



220 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

ness, or blight the happiness of after life, we 
should look well to the end. Human faculties, 
and the limited duration of youth, will not permit 
every acquisition ; a selection must be made, and 
well it behoves us not to err in the choice. 
While there are some things in which we may 
exercise an option, there are others, in which we 
can have little or none. A man may or may not 
be a linguist, but it is incumbent on every one to 
become conversant with his mother tongue. All 
should be familiar with the general principles, and 
easily accessible facts of science. These, in one 
sense, are the language of nature, the knowledge 
of which, is not less essential than that of our 
earthly parents. Every one should observe and 
reflect with accuracy — every one should be well- 
grounded in the business of life — in industrious, 
energetic and virtuous habits — in the duties which 
he owes to himself and to his fellows, and in the 
relations which he holds to the universal frame 
of nature, and its divine Author. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES ON THE 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MIND. 



1. The influence of circumstances on mental 
and moral development — in a word, on the for- 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 221 

mation of character, is one of the most extended, 
as it is certainly one of the most interesting and 
important subjects of human consideration. It 
has long been disputed how far individual charac- 
teristics are thus formed, or to what extent they 
are owing to inborn peculiarities. We know in- 
deed, nothing of the mind in itself, and can only 
fathom its properties, by the manifestations of our 
consciousness and the conduct of others. Cir- 
cumstances may be separated into two great 
classes — the one internal, and involving the con- 
dition and the operations, of body and mind ; the 
other external, and including the condition and 
the operations of outward agents. As the action 
of the human soul is the most energetic of the in- 
ternal circumstances, so the conduct of our fellow- 
men is the most powerful of the external. These, 
next to the constitution of nature itself, are the 
most influential of all the agencies that act 
upon us. 

I. We bring nothing into the world with us, 
save body and mind; and upon the constitution 
and condition of these, must character in so far, 
depend. Though we know of no original diffe- 
rence between mind and mind, the body varies 
considerably at birth. It is constructed after a 
common type, but beyond this, there is every 
variety. To the approximation, not approaching 
to identity, in our bodily structure and functions, 
is owing the similarity of the impressions arising 
from outward objects. A harmony of action is 
thus created ; for it is obvious, that if there had 



222 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

not been a common bond, the great mass would 
be more at variance, than they actually are. 
Even at birth, the infant germ is modified for 
good or for ill ; it may be blighted in the bud, or 
come diseased into the world. This however, 
may take place to a considerable extent, without 
entailing any intellectual disqualification. If the 
organs of relation be affected, the result is other- 
wise. When any given portion of the nervous 
system is injured, there is a corresponding loss 
of function. In these cases, correct impressions, 
if any, cannot be received from without ; nor can 
the mind command the healthy services of the 
organs in return. It will be obvious then, how 
much the transmission of knowledge is involved 
in the healthy action of these important parts. 
We cannot explain the instrumentality of the or- 
ganization; the nervous system doubtless, is the 
bridge between outward objects and the mind, 
but how, we know not. It does not make the 
matter clearer, to say that the brain is mind, or, 
what is the same thing, the organ of mind. Look- 
ing upon the nerve as a link between body and 
mind, it is no more difficult to conceive that one 
extremity should be diseased, than the other. 
Under such circumstances also, the impressions 
received or communicated, must be at once defi- 
cient and incorrect. This appears to be the case 
with regard to idiots, in which enormous con- 
genital deficiency in the anterior portions of the 
brain, is generally visible. Here, there is loss of 
parts, and consequently, loss of function ; but the 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 223 

latter may ensue from various causes in after life, 
without the former. Though the outward organs 
should continue perfect, the individual is cut off 
from the acquisition of knowledge, and is shut 
out, as by a screen, from the perception of ex- 
ternal phenomena. The preceding explanation 
involves no violent hypothesis, and is more con- 
formable to the analogy of our moral and intel- 
lectual nature, than the views which would go to 
identify matter and mind. 

II. The formation of character depends upon 
numerous contingencies, many of them beyond 
the reach of ordinary calculation. How often is 
it swayed by the different casualties and events, 
which take place in the course of human life; 
many of them unforeseen, and perhaps, never 
recurring again ? Next to the influence of others, 
the most powerful agent is mental and moral 
energy. This cannot be created short of the ope- 
ration of external circumstances, but once it is so, 
it becomes paramount. It is that, by which the 
Indian braves the torments of his enemies, and 
dies without a groan : it accompanies the martyr 
to the stake, and the patriot to the block; nor is 
there any situation so miserable, under which this 
admirable principle will not enable us to bear up. 
In the troubles, temptations and perplexities of 
life, it is equally efficacious. It ensures perse- 
verance, and if it is to be obtained, success. 
What multitudes of common minds — common, 
because superior impulses have not been created 
in them, retreat from every attempt that promises 



224 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

the slightest impediment ; but the energetic are 
turned aside by no obstacle that it is possible to 
surmount. The powers of such, grow with every 
obstruction, and are never so great as when 
difficulties multiply. It is then, that the man of 
energy bursts through all opposition, and shews 
us the resources of the human mind. No lan- 
guage is adequate to pourtray this wonder-work- 
ing power, or to depict its enormous influence. 
It is no detriment to it to say, that bad men have 
possessed it, for the best gifts of humanity may 
be abused; the wise and good however, will try 
so to mould their energies, as to derive the great- 
est sum of advantages from them. Such feel and 
know, that they add fresh powers to the mind, 
and facilitate the performance of things, which, 
without the precious impulse, would slumber for 
ever in the torpid inanity of good intention. The 
energetic achieve realities, which to the unener- 
getic, seem placed in the regions of frozen im- 
possibilities. Energy, moral and intellectual, is 
created by the active cultivation of the heart and 
understanding, and by encouraging their mani- 
festations in every desirable form. The individual 
who would improve it, will represent to himself 
the wide range of his duties, desires and expecta- 
tions, and continually recur to the motives best 
calculated to stimulate him to exertion. Energy 
has but the one onward path; there is no devia- 
tion, no retardation, no pause: if it slacken its 
pace, the individual is under its impulse no more. 
Every one however, is subject to lapses and re- 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 225 

missions : the energy of some is stupendous, while 
that of others, is little or none. 

2. As the most powerful of the internal cir- 
cumstances, is the influence of man on himself, 
so the most powerful of the external, is that of 
other men. In early life, we rely on others for 
our knowledge, our prejudices, and the good or 
bad direction of our feelings; as we grow up 
however, we acquire an independent fund of 
action. The leading external circumstances by 
which character is formed, are education, govern- 
ment, religion, literature, science, art, human 
passions and wants, commerce, society, rank, 
habits, climate, age and sex. Education may be 
divided into physical, intellectual and moral. 
This potent agent leads to the most striking re- 
sults. It may make a man healthy or unhealthy, 
wise or ignorant, base-minded and wicked, or 
philanthropic and good. It is education, that 
gives to an Englishman his particular feelings 
and opinions, and which leads him to believe that 
his country is superior to all others; yet this is 
true, not so much of England and Englishmen, as 
of the earth and human beings. It causes a Chi- 
nese to become an adherent of Fo or of Confu- 
cius, and leads him to look upon the rest of the 
world, as the abode of ignorance and barbarism. 
The eccentricities and intolerance of Budhism, 
Hindooism and Mahometanism, are equally pro- 
duced by it. Education may be perverted; but 
this is a contingency that cannot be avoided, 
without also forfeiting enormous good: to have 

p 



226 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

been under the necessity of choosing but one 
path, would be wholly inconsistent with reason 
and volition. A choice is necessary, and with- 
out overcoming obstacles, and cultivating our 
discrimination, there could be no excellence. 
An automatic virtuous man would be as great a 
solecism in morals, as a being who perceived, re- 
collected, and reflected by means of mechanism. 

I. The influence of government comes next to 
that of education itself. The state of the people 
is reflected on the government, and conversely. 
Governments too often, are the organs of parti- 
cular parties, whose interests are served at the ex- 
pense of the community; yet there can be no 
question, that its only legitimate existence is for 
the good of the whole. What is, however, is one 
thing; what ought to be, another. Beneficial 
changes must be preceded by present efforts. 
We have a right to work for posterity, as well as 
for ourselves; there is a pleasure in doing so, 
that rewards the toil. The old man who plants 
the acorn, is not less beneficially employed, than 
the young one who cuts down the lofty oak. It 
is the characteristic of barbarous nations, to leave 
an inferior mental and moral heritage to their 
descendants. How strikingly varied is the in- 
fluence of government: how different the rude 
despotism that exhausts the blood and treasure 
of the subject, from the beneficent administration 
that economizes the resources, and promotes the 
interests of the people ? It is marvellous to see 
the influence of a wise and good rule extending 



OX THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES, 227 

to every quarter, producing peace, happiness and 
contentment without end. When a pernicious 
and partial government on the other hand, gains 
the ascendency, it is painful to witness the uni- 
versal multiplication of injustice and fraud. Offi- 
cials copy the vices of their superiors ; men of 
trust are no longer preferred, and the villany 
that firmness and wisdom would awe into impo- 
tency, stalks forth unabashed and unrestrained. 
The enormities which political and sectarian ani- 
mosity have produced, are unspeakable. Blood- 
shed, persecution, oppression, loss of property 
and liberty, and the immolation of innocence, 
have been among the frightful results. The evils 
cannot be calculated, which have been occasioned 
whenever tyranny, whether under the regal scep- 
tre or the civilian's robe, the soldier's dagger or 
the priest's cowl, has succeeded in repressing the 
voice of liberty and truth, and in crushing free 
inquiry, and the expression of opinion. Irrespon- 
sible power never was, and never will be exer- 
cised without abuse, unless by the eminently 
virtuous and enlightened, who, unfortunately, are 
rarely or never in possession of it. Depotism is 
equally exebrable, whether in the mob or in the 
single ruler: in the former however, it is brief, 
since even the most savage, are quelled by their 
necessities. Until the mass are educated, and 
until knowledge circulates freely, we cannot hope 
to witness sound legislation, undemoralized by 
partisanship or sectarianism, and acting calmly 
and energetically for the good of the whole. This 



228 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

consummation once realized however, nations 
would become a brotherhood of intelligence and 
peace; their intercourse would be marked by 
philanthropy and good-will, without the horrors 
of war, or any interruption to the blessings, which 
Providence has showered down on the family of 
mankind. 

II. If the influence of government is great, 
what shall we say of religion? The former is 
limited by time and place, but the latter extends 
from region to region, and from generation to 
generation. A political despotism may be over- 
thrown, but superstition subjugates the very ener- 
gies by which we may hope to effect a change. 
The influence of religion is in the ratio of its 
character, or to speak more properly, of its 
existence; how many acts of elevated magna- 
nimity, as well as of surpassing cruelty, have been 
wrought in its name ? Martyrdoms, persecutions, 
oppression and death, on the one hand, and hu- 
manity, benevolence and devotion, without bounds, 
on the other. The sentiment that unites man 
with his Maker; that prompts him to love, reve- 
rence and submission ; to the acquisition of moral 
knowledge, and the practice of his duty — this is 
religion. And I fear, that without the conscious- 
ness of this sentiment, the love, the knowledge, 
and the conduct, which it should inspire, no zeal, 
and no profession of opinion, will suffice. Cha- 
racters of a cast so exalted, as to embody the ex- 
cellencies of religion, are rarely to be met with; 
a Fenelon, a Benezet, a Neff, or an Oberlin, is 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 22Q 

not of daily occurrence. Just principles must be 
toiled for, before they can be won : to what fatal 
error is it owing, that people can suppose that 
moral knowledge, feeling or conduct, can come 
unsought? The acquisition involves means — 
means to an end — means to be employed, if we 
would realize the result. Moral superiority, any 
more than intellectual, cannot be gained without 
labour, toil, and pains. 

If religious excellence has been productive of 
much good, fanaticism, superstition, and religious 
error, have led to enormous evil. The tyranny 
that would reach beyond the grave, is the most 
intolerable of any. From worldly ills men may 
hope to escape, but what is to liberate them from 
those that have no term ? A life of benevolence 
and beneficence must entail advantages hereafter, 
as it does here. It is not for us to know the dis- 
cipline ordained for the final extirpation of sin 
and ignorance ; its efficacy however, will doubt- 
less, be commensurate with infinite power, and 
boundless love. It is presumptuous to anticipate 
the arrangements of our Creator, and to denounce 
an eternity of misery, even on the sinner's head ; 
but it is lamentable, that fallible creatures should 
dare to launch endless condemnation for mere 
differences of opinion. We are but the beings of 
a day, and can see but a small way into the fu- 
ture, and shall we venture, in the plenitude of 
our presumption, to cut away all hope from the 
erring companions of our mortal pilgrimage? 
Who made thee, rash mortal, infallible ? Strive 



230 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

assiduously, and hope humbly for thyself, but do 
not measure with thy narrow prejudices, goodness 
inexhaustible, and wisdom divine. When we turn 
from the bloody massacres and dreadful persecu- 
tions, that sects and individuals have perpetra- 
ted against each other, to those pure bright names 
and precious influences, which have shed such a 
lustre on mankind, we cannot forbear wishing, 
that the one were universal, and that the other 
had never been ; and that poor, troubled humanity 
might rest quietly at last, in the deep-rooted con- 
victions and happy feelings, which are produced 
by untiring confidence in God's wisdom and 
goodness, and by the knowledge, the practice, and 
the love of our everlasting duties. 

III. Without a direct impulse from others, our 
minds would act with comparative difficulty ; and 
without vigorous mental exertion, this external 
impulse would remain without fruits. The en- 
nobling results of literature, science and art, 
afford an earnest of what they might effect, were 
the pursuit once become general. The student 
however, will prejudice his usefulness, and even 
science itself, unless his conduct and sentiments 
be of unsullied purity. Science adds fresh lustre 
to morality, which in its turn, does honour to 
science. Literature, science and art, elevate the 
intellect, and refine the heart. The acquisition 
of knowledge, and the art of composition, though 
painful and tedious at first, come to be performed 
with ease and pleasure. The subject matter of 
habitual composition, occasions a difference in 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 231 

individual character; and if the same cause 
operate on numbers, the results will be co-exten- 
sive. Although every variety may be observed 
among artists, as among literary and scientific 
men, still we witness certain approximations, in 
virtue of their pursuits. The influence of lite- 
rature, science and art however, is of most impor- 
tance, with regard to the intellect at large. How 
vast the interval between one who is imbued with 
mental culture, and one who is wholly destitute of it? 
How liberal and how enlarged is the intellect, in 
which knowledge and excellence reign supreme? 
To superstition, tyranny, false pride, and all 
iniquity, how much opposed? What glorious 
communion does not knowledge enable us to hold 
with the works of the Deity ; of what utility and 
what happiness to others, is it not the instrument, 
and how infinitely does it not elevate us above the 
gross passions, and the baser alloy of humanity? 
The man of science is admitted to the spectacle 
of the universe; he stands equally free from stupid 
wonder or debasing terror, the enlightened be- 
holder of the mighty works of Providence. He 
witnesses the wonderful phenomena of nature, 
whether they concern the stupendous revolutions 
of the heavenly bodies, or the motions of the in- 
sect at his feet, with dignified equanimity. He 
enjoys life, but he is not afraid of death; and, 
living or dying, he knows that he is equally in the 
hands of boundless wisdom and power. 

The influence which knowledge exerts on the 
heart, is eminently great and beneficial. While 



232 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

it controuls the baser passions, it also regulates 
the good. It teaches us not to place our affec- 
tions on low or unworthy objects, inasmuch as it 
is impossible for knowledge and energy, to con- 
sort with baseness and depravity. Were the in- 
tellect of woman cultivated, should we witness 
the unhappy spectacle, of the union of their better 
feelings with error, or behold them a prey to 
villainy and vice ? And were knowledge univer- 
sal, should we incur the humiliation of seeing the 
human heart rivetted on the grossest and most 
monstrous superstitions ? Knowledge and intel- 
lectual energy, guide the passions and the feelings, 
and confine them to the path of duty, excellence 
and truth. 

IV. No one however slightly acquainted with 
the history of human nature, can overlook the 
mighty agency of the passions. They are the 
incitements to action, and the mainsprings of con- 
duct. Without them, men would be automatons. 
They are no less essential than the purely intel- 
lectual part of our nature, and most assuredly, 
human happiness could have no existence without 
them. We might enjoy the pleasures of sense, 
but the refinements of life, and the multiplied de- 
lights of consciousness, would be no more. When 
I speak of the passions, I include the various 
emotions and affections of which our being is sus- 
ceptible, and which in figurative language have 
been centred in the heart. 

V. Human wants powerfully affect the forma- 
tion of character. They are so numerous and 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 233 

diversified, that although their general tendency 
is sufficiently obvious, it is not easy to measure 
their individual influence. We complain of the 
pressure of our wants, yet do not sufficiently re- 
flect, that if they lead to some privations, they are 
likewise, the source of numerous enjoyments. 
The efforts which we employ in providing for 
our necessities, strengthen our energies, and aug- 
ment our powers. It is no paradox to ascribe 
the primary development of the heart and intel- 
lect to this cause. Superior principles could not 
eventually come into play, unless our mental and 
moral faculties had been evolved and stimulated, 
by the coarser scaffolding of our wants. The 
history of our race displays this fact in the strong- 
est light. The poor savage derives his suste- 
nance from the spontaneous produce of the soil; 
its deficiency forces him upon the chase, and 
finally, upon the tillage of the soil. It is not un- 
til necessaries abound, that men have either leisure 
or inclination to turn their attention to higher 
pursuits. Human wants acting on human capa- 
bilities, gradually eliminate various arts, among 
which agriculture holds the highest place. Max- 
ims relative to their practice, accumulate in time, 
and a progressively increasing expertness, is trans- 
mitted from generation to generation. The lux- 
ury of the rich sated with ordinary enjoyments, 
gives rise to different discoveries, and war itself, 
has served to develop the resources of mankind. 
Heart and understanding come to be cultivated 
to an extent before unknown, and a happier futu- 



234 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

rity dawns upon our race. The admixture of the 
baser passions however — the ignorance, the su- 
perstition, and the inferior addictions of the 
many, prevent these beneficial tendencies from 
taking the best direction. It is only by degrees, 
as the intellect and feelings are cultivated, 
that our fortunes arrive at their term, and that 
the mind attains to a position from which it can 
never recede. 

It is evident to any one who looks with discri- 
mination on the successive phases of society, that 
man is a progressive being, and that from a con- 
dition only raised by superior capabilities above 
the brute, he arrives at one so elevated, as to seem 
no longer the same. The contrast in truth, is 
striking — in the one case, a creature caring for 
nothing save the satisfaction of his animal wants, 
and in the other, possessed of a range of intellect 
and feeling, comparatively stupendous. If we 
look around, we perceive that with few excep- 
tions, wealth whether inherited or acquired, is 
devoted to objects of sense, which, gorgeous 
though they be, are as nothing contrasted with 
the mighty empire of the heart and mind. In 
this, there is range without bounds, and scope 
illimitable, for the most arduous and indefatigable. 
It is an empire which is not confined to earth, 
since it reaches to heaven; nor to time, since it 
ranges through eternity. The objects of sense 
are excellent and good; they yield us pleasure, 
and are the instruments of instruction, but their 
place is subordinate to feeling and reflection. As 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 235 

our race advances, the priceless excellence of the 
latter, will be better appreciated. They will be 
known to be the only true riches — riches which 
are increased by diffusion — which we cannot lose, 
and which experience no decay. Hereafter, 
the boundaries of both, will be better discrimi- 
nated. Intellectual and moral worth, not mere 
material possessions, will be the criterion of ex- 
cellence ; while every human being will be abun- 
dantly supplied with that, which must ensure the 
greatest prosperity to all. 

The affairs of nations are but partially regu- 
lated by the convictions of intellectual and moral 
men ; nor are the majority well able to appreciate 
the motives, which lead to the conduct of such. 
The result is witnessed in sanguinary wars ; in 
brutal persecutions ; in the unnatural support of 
some sectarians at the expense of others; in re- 
strictions on the diffusion of knowledge; in the 
low state of general education, and in the insuf- 
ficient provision for the poor. When the mass 
of the community shall be better instructed, this 
state of things must wholly disappear, and an- 
other succeed, which is as pleasing even in the 
anticipation, as the former is the contrary. Every 
thing points out the adaptation of outward agen- 
cies to our actual wants, and the advent of a con- 
dition of society, in which human beings shall be 
liberated from the thraldom of their physical ne- 
cessities. The task of providing for these, might 
be rendered light and easy ; yet many are ground 
to the dust, by toil so excessive, as to leave 



236 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

little time and less inclination, for moral and in- 
tellectual culture. Yet why is this, unless from 
the inferior influence, of men of superior worth 
and intelligence? If the Deity did not intend 
the development of our capabilities, why were all 
provided with them? The continual action of 
our wants on our numerous and wonderful en- 
dowments, has by a sure and steady progression, 
brought us to our mixed condition of good and 
ill, from which, by the continuance of the same 
process, we shall arrive at a state of things as 
much above the present, as the present is above 
the past. This progression has not been intrusted 
to the feeble and uncertain guidance of human 
intelligence alone, but to agencies that must cer- 
tainly secure their objects, since they have been 
put in operation by over-ruling wisdom itself. 

VI. Anything that increases energy, is in the 
main, useful: commerce is of this description. 
It sharpens the faculties, and leads to additional 
exertions. How many arts, and even sciences, 
are subservient to its vigorous prosecution? The 
different races of mankind are brought in con- 
tact; prejudice is dissipated; a beneficial rivalry 
is lighted up, and the experience of one nation, 
finds its way to the rest. Commerce is not to be 
proscribed, because its pursuit is attended with 
occasional hardship. It is not continual repose 
and security, that most promote our happiness, 
but their alternation with danger and uncer- 
tainty. Rest is purchased by exertion, and secu- 
rity is best relished, when it is the fruit of energy. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 237 

If mankind shall ever arrive at a period, when 
the necessaries of life shall be procured without 
anxiety, the satisfaction of their mental and moral 
wants, will then engage their unremitting atten- 
tion. Who does not perceive that the discipline 
of human life, tends to this result ? The faculties 
are first sharpened by our physical necessities, 
and the improvement remains, when the causes 
which lead to it, no longer act. Like many 
other agents, commerce exerts a good or a bad 
influence, according to the persons who are 
operated on. Continual struggles with the ele- 
ments — the vicissitudes of climate and foreign 
intercourse, confer additional strength on culti- 
vated minds; while they superadd ruggedness 
and insensibility, in the ignorant and unenlight- 
ened. Commercial nations, though conspicuous 
for considerable intelligence, are addicted to the 
mere pursuit of wealth and material enjoyments; 
hereafter however, commerce will be productive 
of the best results for all. 

VII. It is common to hear observations on the 
dissimilar characters of children, reared in the 
same family, and educated at the same school. 
The fallacy consists in denominating variable 
elements, by the same terms, and consequently, 
in regarding them as identical. There will in- 
deed, be a certain sameness of position, which in 
so far, engenders like results. The inhabitants 
of a given country will resemble each other, more 
closely, than they do those of another ; and the 
observation holds good of a district, a village, 



238 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

and a family. There is no peculiarity in the 
conduct of an individual, that may not be traced 
to its source. The eldest born is differently cir- 
cumstanced from those who come after; these 
again, are not placed alike with the first. The 
former has his separate bodily organization ; he 
is brought in contact with different scenes, ser- 
vants and play-fellows, and is perhaps sent to a 
different school. Even the same occurrences, 
operate differently on different individuals. What 
is called the same family, is indeed, a name for- 
very variable elements. Such is the nature of 
human existence, that the position of every one 
is constantly changing. In how many cases, is 
the conduct of parents regulated by circumstances, 
over which they have no control? The condi- 
tion of society is such, that even the energetic 
and the exalted, are subjected to conditions, which 
they cannot wholly evade. How different are 
the characteristics of children, reared in different 
countries, where families have emigrated? To 
how many contingencies is a child exposed, from 
disease and other events, from which another is 
exempt? The less the mind and heart are 
operated upon, the less difference will be ob- 
served ; savages for example, present little range 
of character, and during the dark ages, whole 
nations were nearly alike. Children, at a certain 
age, resemble each other, as do persons who pur- 
sue the same occupations. The working- classes 
approximate closely in their conduct, and the 
same observation extends to the higher. It is 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 23 ( J 

among the instructed portions of society, that 
there is the most extended moral and intellectual 
development, and that the greatest diversity pre- 
sents itself. The intellect is endowed with ex- 
haustless capabilities, and nothing widens the 
results arising from their cultivation, so much as 
this cultivation itself. Once, there is a moral and 
intellectual point of departure, who can say where 
it shall terminate: the least difference in this 
respect, occasions the utmost variety in the 
results. It is true, that superior minds, in some 
respects, approximate ; they will have much in- 
formation, and many sympathies in common ; but 
their knowledge, their feelings and their ener- 
gies, are endlessly diversified. The principal 
source of variety of character, so far as society is 
concerned, depends on the injurious or beneficial 
development of the heart and understanding. 
From the degree in which this development takes 
place, and the direction in which it flows, cha- 
racter from the most enlightened and benevolent, 
to the most malignant and debased, will be the 
result. Parents and teachers are too frequently 
apathetic ; and the heart, alas, is still less gene- 
rally cultivated than the intellect. The great 
difficulty is to create mental and moral energy, 
and to turn it in a proper direction. When this 
however, has been secured, it becomes at once, 
a maintaining, and an impelling power, and an 
uninterrupted career of virtue and excellence, is 
ever afterwards continued. 

It is incumbent on the community to protect 



240 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

the individual from deteriorating influences, 
whether of body, heart or mind, and to enable 
him to proceed in the best direction, from motives 
evolved in his own bosom. This is the duty of 
society, in all its diversified relations. Most of 
the good, which we enjoy however, and the evils 
over which we repine, are its produce. And 
what a mixture does it present, of magnanimity 
and meanness, generosity and avarice, enlighten- 
ment and ignorance, feeling and apathy, indo- 
lence and energy, fanaticism and true religion, 
candour and duplicity, sensuality and continence, 
indolence and industry, refinement and coarse- 
ness, virtue and vice? All these form a com- 
pound, to which every human being is more or 
less exposed, and which presents every aspect, 
from the brightest and most serene^ to the dark- 
est and most polluted. Happy are they who 
suffer least, in their progress through the laby- 
rinth. 

VIII. The influence of rank on character, is 
very considerable. Members of the lowest por- 
tion of the social scale, are shut out from the ad- 
vantages of a superior education. Children 
among the higher classes, receive a limited early 
instruction; the distractions of wealth and rank, 
operate seriously to their prejudice. The edu- 
cation of the middling classes, though far from 
what it ought, is in some respects, superior to 
that of the other two. The great thing is to in- 
duce in both sexes, correct and energetic powers 
of reflection, good feelings and correct principles. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 241 

If this be not done, science, language and accom- 
plishments, are gaudy, but worthless acquire- 
ments. Rank affects character, by bringing the 
individual within a given sphere of society, and 
thereby, leading him to adopt opinions which in 
after life, may operate beneficially or the con- 
trary. Their introduction is so insidious and 
progressive, and they are so confirmed by habit 
and repetition, as not to be easily obliterated. 
When the feelings are associated with them, the 
difficulty is increased. Mental and moral energy, 
is the highest principle that can actuate the indi- 
vidual, in whatever class he may be placed. The 
depressed condition of the working classes how- 
ever, produces a principle the converse of this, 
which tends to hinder the proper assertion of the 
dignity of human nature, and which consequently, 
acts as a degrading agent. The influence of rank 
is often injurious, conferring elevation without 
sufficient reference to personal merit. It will pro- 
bably, be a considerable period before attention 
shall be abstracted from adventitious circum- 
stances ; yet nothing can be more obvious, than 
that the only rational distinction between man 
and man, is intellect and moral worth, 

IX. Mental habits are part of character, and 
in some measure, character itself. It is not easy 
to over-rate their importance. Bad ones, are 
strongest in weak minds ; good, in those that are 
energetic. Some however — such as the belief in 
our erect position ; that we can see form ; that 
colour and hardness reside in objects; that space 

Q 



242 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

has a termination, and that the sun moves round 
the earth, owing to the force of indissoluble asso- 
ciation, are difficult to eradicate. It is singu- 
larly desirable, that every one should form correct 
habits at an early period. The difference is 
remarkable, when we compare the finished pre- 
cision of the educated, with the bungling efforts 
of the beginner. Individuals in w r hom a long- 
succession of accurate conclusions has been asso- 
ciated with the choicest language, will improvise 
with ease and rapidity, the most just and lumi- 
nous observations, in the most appropriate phra- 
seology. The magnificent results which habit is 
capable of achieving, are not easily appreciated 
by the common observer, who in witnessing the 
ability flowing from a long series of acts, does 
not reflect upon the process by which it has been 
gained. Hence, the popular prejudice in favour 
of genius, of which the uncommon results are not 
ascribed to time, labour and passion, but to a 
peculiar and inscrutable power. It was thus, 
in bygone ages, that individuals who had gained 
a little familiarity with the phenomena of nature, 
were denominated sorcerers and magicians, as it 
was conceived impossible that their acquirements 
could be realized by ordinary means. Habits 
indeed, have the disadvantage of lending invete- 
racy to defectiveness, as well as permanence to 
excellence, but this is the abuse of a principle 
good in itself. 

X. Climate is an indirect agent in the forma- 
tion of character. The influence of circum- 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 243 

stances on the universal capabilities of the human 
mind, is variously modified; none are absolute. 
Some which are of small importance in combina- 
tion, become powerful when they are not nulli- 
fied by the intervention of others. But the 
strongest of all, are the awakened energies of the 
human mind, in relation to the development 
which they have undergone, and the obstacles 
which they have been called on to surmount. 
Now, no peculiarity of climate, can suppress the 
powers of energetic individuals. There may be 
moments of weariness, lassitude and inability, but 
the might of the human soul cannot be perma- 
nently overcome. From the foregoing it will 
appear, that the influence of climate is princi- 
pally remarkable, with regard to men in an infe- 
rior stage of civilization. On such, the quality 
of the soil, its fertility or the contrary, the num- 
ber and value of its spontaneous productions, the 
vicissitudes of the seasons, and the salubrity or 
insalubrity of the water, must largely operate. 
When human nature has undergone a certain 
range of cultivation, it controls external circum- 
stances ; up to this point, it is controlled by them. 
If we cast our eyes over the world, we see 
inferior minds — inferior as to education and 
training, governed by circumstances which to 
superior ones, are paltry and insignificant. On 
the other hand, we also behold men of energy 
constraining the elements, and bending the powers 
of nature to their purposes. If we survey the 
progress of some ancient and modern races, in 



244 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

the formation of colonies, or in expeditions of con- 
quest and discovery, we cannot but feel astonished 
at the invincible firmness by means of which they 
withstood, and overcame obstacles, to others wholly 
insuperable. 

Climate sometimes deteriorates the whole phy- 
sical structure, and contingently, the organs of re- 
lation; hence, in so far, by hindering their de- 
velopment, it is able to overwhelm our mental 
powers. With regard to the production of ne- 
cessaries, it is a more powerful agent. A soil of 
extreme sterility, or one of great productiveness, 
by taking away the means, or by obviating the 
necessity of exertion, tends to annihilate it. When 
human powers however, have risen to a superior 
pitch, the most ungrateful soil cannot suspend 
their efforts, nor the most fruitful supply their 
wants. The Deity has secured our advancement, 
by placing us in a situation wherein it was incum- 
bent to exert our faculties. Thus, the supply 
of our wants is made the means and the end; 
and man by ministering to his necessities, realizes 
at the same time, both mental cultivation and the 
reward of exertion. It is a glorious attribute of 
our nature, that it is thus able to neutralize and 
overwhelm, every sinister and evil influence. 

XI. The operation of age is imperfectly appre- 
ciated. Time is required for perfecting our 
attainments. As age advances, our knowledge 
enlarges, and we exercise our faculties with in- 
creased facility. Age then, intellectually speak- 
ing, is a contingent condition. Still, there are 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 245 

limits to human powers, however well directed; 
nor can we expect in youth, the result of years 
of matured exertion. Adults, especially in ad- 
vanced age, sometimes cease to display the talents 
for which they were once remarkable. Does the 
mind then, lose the power of retaining its know- 
ledge, or of manifesting its faculties ? At no pe- 
riod of life, is this to be effected, unless efforts 
be made for the purpose. Without repetition 
and exertion, knowledge cannot be maintained 
or increased. The organs of relation, the brain 
and nerves, may experience disease, so as to un- 
fit them for their functions, but this is not pecu- 
liar to old age. It might be said that the fibres 
of the brain became rigid and obtuse, but as this 
organ is not the mind, the explanation cannot be 
granted. So many brilliant examples have been 
recorded, of talent and acquirement in advanced 
age, as to furnish abundant collateral proof, in 
favour of the position here taken up. The cares, 
the sorrows, and the vicissitudes, to which men 
are subject, are so numerous and importunate, 
that we cannot feel surprise if so few acquire 
sufficient firmness to withstand their influence. 
Assuredly, we are called on, as we thread the 
devious path of life, not only to lose no know- 
ledge, and no faculty, but to add fresh stores, and 
other powers, to both. Thus, our years shall not 
pass away without fruit, nor shall we enter another 
and a higher sphere, unprepared. 

Age, imparts varying changes of direction to 
our habits, desires, and modes of action. The 



246 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

wishes of the child, are not those of the youth, 
and still less, the objects of adult life. As we 
advance in years, we come to entertain different 
views, and what was once desirable, perhaps 
wholly ceases to be so. The young man looks 
forward to a long career; the old man is con- 
scious of the rapid close of every earthly pursuit. 
The powers, the passions, and the affections, vary 
at every period, though, when duly cultivated, 
perhaps equally excellent in all. Filial and fra- 
ternal affection animates the child; the passion 
of sex, the love of country and of kind — of off- 
spring, and of the great first Cause, distinguish 
the man. Everything indeed, is beautifully 
adapted to the different relations of our mortal 
career — from the active and impassioned ener- 
gies of youth, to the dispassionate contemplative- 
ness of wise old age. 

XII. It is not easy to weigh the influence of 
sex. It is usual to look upon man as the stan- 
dard, and to consider the varieties of the female 
intellect as the peculiarity. When both sexes 
however, receive equal culture, it is not found 
that there is any difference, whether speculative 
or practical. The influence of sex then, mentally 
speaking, is a collateral one, of a purely artificial 
nature, and involving the barbarous prejudice 
which allots an inferior education to women. It 
is not necessary that the latter should exhibit an 
exclusive addiction to science or literature, but 
it is imperatively so, that they should possess a 
certain amount of general knowledge, and that 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 247 

they should be perfectly acquainted with their 
mother tongue, with moral, and with the elements 
of physical science. The cultivation of female 
intellect is limited, both in amount and in dura- 
tion. Young men continue years at college ; the 
business of instruction however, ceases when girls 
leave school. When we reflect on the superior 
impulses which a well-informed mother, is able to 
communicate to the minds and hearts of her 
children — not to insist on the comfort, the utility, 
and the self-respect, which knowledge ensures, it 
affords an unanswerable argument in favour of 
the highest degree of cultivation, that it is possi- 
ble to bestow. 

It cannot be denied, that the absence of in- 
struction tends to create anomalies of character ; 
the ill-informed youth is apt to grow up rude and 
unfeeling, as the ignorant girl probably turns out 
imbecile and unenergetic, the victim of passion 
and prejudice, in whatever guise they may present 
themselves. If we refer, as we are entitled to do, 
the crime, the misery, and the bloodshed, which 
inundate the world, to the absence of moral and 
mental culture ; to misdirected and ill-developed 
feelings, and to inferior habits, the stupendous 
importance of early training becomes strikingly 
apparent. If there be one truth more certain 
than another, it is, that upon the proper develop- 
ment of the heart and understanding, and upon 
the formation of good and energetic habits, the 
well-being of mankind must mainly depend. We 
have been granted the means of securing our 



248 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

moral dignity and excellence ; but these attributes 
of our better nature, cannot be evolved in either 
sex, without strenuous and incessant exertion. 



CHAPTER XX. 

ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HUMAN MIND. 



1. The physiology of the mind, embraces every 
particular relative to its laws and operations, that 
observation has been able to unfold. Sensations, 
feelings and ideas, demand equal consideration. 
The first, are those primary states of conscious- 
ness, which arise from the immediate exercise of 
our bodily organs ; the second, are the direct or 
indirect remembrance of painful or pleasing sen- 
sations, and the third, and by far the greater 
number, the remembrance of sensations which 
are wholly indifferent. When the term moral, is 
made use of, in relation, or in opposition to our 
physical and intellectual being, not merely the 
facts comprised under the head of moral know- 
ledge, but the feelings combined with it, are 
alluded to. The importance of mental physio- 
logy is extreme. Nothing is so eminently calcu- 
lated to prove subversive of the errors which 
have crept into moral science, as well as of the 
evils which beset the mutual commerce of man- 



ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 249 

kind. It would indeed, be surprising, if the study 
of the noblest work of God — the human mind, 
could have any other tendency. 

The desire of explaining that which is inex- 
plicable, has led the students of intellectual 
science into numerous errors. We experience 
consciousness in all its magnificent and diversi- 
fied forms, but we know nothing of its cause, any 
more than of its vehicle. One of the most dis- 
tinguished of the errors above alluded to, and one 
that has been most frequently renewed, is mate- 
rialism. It was perhaps natural for imperfect 
observers, to identify the growth, maturity, and 
occasional derangement of the mind, with paral- 
lel changes in the frame, and to assert the destruc- 
tion of the former, with the evident dissolution 
of the latter. Bodily decay however, is but the 
preliminary of the renovation of the material, in 
some other form. Our relations with this world, 
are effected through the medium of our organi- 
zation ; we have no means of witnessing the after 
condition of the soul, although our conviction of 
the unlimited wisdom of the Deity is such, that we 
feel assured that that condition, must be better re- 
gulated, than anything which we are able to con- 
ceive. When I say that the soul is immaterial, I do 
not predicate anything of its substance, for of that 
we can know nothing ; I would merely affirm a nega- 
tion of the material hypothesis. This, is not only 
destitute of support, but opposed to what we know 
of the phenomena of the human mind. The last 
most prominent body of materialists, affirm that 



250 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

they have been the first to declare the true na- 
ture, structure, and functions of the mind ; but if 
materialism falls, phrenology which is only its 
more elaborate expression, falls likewise. There 
is no evidence that the brain is mind, or that it 
performs the functions of mind; consequently, 
there is no evidence that the parts of the brain, 
perform the functions of mind. The former, is 
simple materialism, the latter, materialism, as 
modified by phrenology. If materialism be 
erroneous, then is phrenology elaborately so. 
Excellent views indeed, have been combined with 
both, of which however, they form no necessary 
part ; let us then, select what is true, and abandon 
what is otherwise. I would oppose materialism 
and phrenology, because they make sensation, 
thought, and passion, mere organic acts ; because 
they identify the brain and its functions, with the 
mind, and because, by annihilating the structure of 
the body, and contingently, that of the mind, at 
death, they cut away, so far as reason is able to de- 
monstrate them, the hopes of a futurity. Doctrines, 
so pregnant with error and false consequences, 
cannot justly be looked upon as an Avatar in 
philosophy. Some affirm, that the brain is not 
the mind, but its organ merely : this however, is 
a distinction without a difference; if the brain 
perform every function of mind, it is the mind, 
and it is needless to look for anything farther. 
The most zealous materialist can only desire that 
his system should stand or fall, by its own merits 
or defects. Truth is the interest of all; and 



ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 251 

truth, from the continual accumulations of indi- 
vidual observation, must finally prevail. 

We inquire into the condition of perished and 
barbarous nations; we examine their laws and 
customs, with untiring assiduity, while mental 
science is comparatively neglected. All the 
operations of the human mind, however diver- 
sified, are placed under the operation of unswer- 
ving laws. The demonstrations of ignorance, and 
of drivelling folly, alike bear their impress ; nor 
could our reasonings on human nature have any 
weight, without their existence and universality. 
It is remarkable, that while individuals have 
argued against these laws, the proofs are 
drawn from instances, that actually involve their 
truth. They comprise within their range, every 
condition of mental existence ; nor is it possible 
to imagine any manifestation of intellect, exempt 
from their influence. The only cases in which 
they seem to suffer a partial interruption, is during 
deep sleep, and madness. In the former they 
cease, in the latter they are distorted. Yet, the 
afflicting malady just named, affords ample, al- 
though indirect evidence of the existence of these 
laws, as well as of their necessity to our perma- 
nent well-being. 

2. No stronger instance of the unsettled state 
of our knowledge, on the present important sub- 
ject, could be afforded, than the disputes which 
have prevailed on the questions of liberty and 
necessity. These, were the shiboleths of two 
leading parties, which, so far as opinion went, 



252 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

waged a war of extermination. Neither side en- 
tertained uniform views ; there was indeed, every 
range, from an approximation to truth, to a license 
in error, that might he almost deemed fanatical. 
Some contended for the uncontrolled freedom of 
human actions, while others reduced us to the 
level of machines. Each exulted in the strong- 
holds of the question, and reflected on the weak- 
ness of his opponents. When the necessarians 
urged the pre-existence of motives, they were 
right; but they erred, when they denied the 
existence of a state of mind, which we call choice, 
and in the determination of which, the strongest 
motives prevail. There was truth on both sides ; 
there must be motive, also choice or volition. 
The term philosophical necessity, has been used 
to designate this conclusion ; perhaps, moral cau- 
sation would be a better one. 

3. As mankind become enlightened, and as 
the blessings of education are diffused, the impor- 
tance of a knowledge of the laws whieh regulate 
our feelings, and ideas, will be more generally 
recognised, and acted on. It is precisely this 
knowledge, which draws our attention from ex- 
ternals, not because they are worthless, but be- 
cause there are concerns of higher interest — 
concerns, which are to elevate mankind, on the 
broad platform of virtue and intelligence; not 
giving a suffrage to individuals because of outward 
possessions, or mere professions of opinion, and 
uniting all, not by conventional, and too fre- 
quently, worthless relations, but by those which 



ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 253 

are eternal as they are excellent. It would be 
difficult to say in what condition of our being, this 
knowledge is most necessary, since it is equally 
so in all. Considered with reference to educa- 
tion, its importance becomes stupendous, as it not 
only points out the acquisitions which are most 
valuable, but the manner in which they are to be 
realized. Enormous advantages would accrue, 
were it practically and theoretically inculcated, 
from the earliest period. Yet we must love, 
as well as appreciate moral truth. The head is 
a dull prompter without the heart ; united, their 
impulses glorify and ennoble our nature. If 
moral and intellectual knowledge be important 
in the intercourse of society, it is eminently so in 
that which we maintain with our Creator. We 
glorify God not only with our hearts, but with 
all the diversity of our intellectual faculties. We 
concentrate our being in all its manifold relations, 
in the contemplation of his attributes; for we 
cannot worship him with a part, when he is worthy 
of the whole. Without some acquaintance with 
his infinite works — without an intimate conviction 
of their connexion with our well-being, how can 
we tender him the adoration which is his due? 
It is a knowledge, without which, devotion lan- 
guishes, or degenerates into a ceremonial, devoid 
of life and feeling. In the intercourse of nations, 
and in the transactions of governments, ignorance 
of the moral and intellectual law leads to results 
the most deplorable, It substitutes an attention 
to the interests of the few, instead of those of the 



254 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

many; to externals, independent of internals ; and 
to a particular community, in place of the great 
family of mankind. The well-being of all, is in- 
dissolubly bound together, and whether by omis- 
sion or commission, the unhappiness of any por- 
tion of our fellows, is sure to be reflected on the 
rest. In fine, the importance of moral and intel- 
lectual science, extends to every condition of ex- 
istence, whether with regard to social intercourse, 
or to that of nation with nation ; in the adoration 
of the Deity, or in the silent communings of our 
secret hearts ; in the hurry of life, as in the quiet 
hour of death. It should be known to all, studied 
by all, and felt by all. It should be the ground- 
work of education, the subject of contemplation, 
and the guide of our daily practice. More can- 
not be said to shew the overwhelming — the ines- 
timable importance which is to be attached to it. 
The mischiefs arising from ignorance of the 
physiology of the human mind, spare no one ; but 
extend from the highest to the lowest, and are 
connected with every transaction that involves 
the exercise of our faculties. It is a deplorable 
error in governments, to promulgate laws after a 
fashion, that renders it impracticable for the mass 
of the community to become acquainted with 
them. General principles are not sufficiently 
disseminated, to enable individuals to act in anti- 
cipation of, and in conformity with legislative 
enactments; for these it is obvious, should be 
based on human nature, and involved in the dic- 
tates of morality itself. Why not communicate 



ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 255 

along with a superior education to all, succinct 
and perspicuous notions on jurisprudence, to- 
gether with general information on the existing 
statutes, and on the common law? It is a mon- 
strous abuse in the history of nations, that indi- 
viduals, whether by appointment, or hereditary 
prescription — ignorant not only of the science of 
legislation, but even of human knowledge at large, 
should ever be made law-makers. Were the 
people generally enlightened as to their real in- 
terests; were they acquainted with the nature 
and workings of their faculties, such baneful ano- 
malies would no longer exist. 

The consequences of ignorance as to our men- 
tal and moral powers, are equally conspicuous in 
the ordinary relations of life. In families, it too 
often leads to the substitution of a grinding mis- 
rule, for the rational exercise of parental control. 
Masters and servants, husbands and wives, bro- 
thers and sisters, parents and children, are ex- 
pected by each other, to be models of perfection, 
when they respectively, make use of no sufficient 
efforts to secure such a result. And thus, it is 
with all; people are perpetually desiring occur- 
rences for which they have made no rational pro- 
vision. Our influence over others, compared 
with that which we exercise over ourselves, is in- 
deed, limited : why then, neglect that which lies so 
much in our own power, and hope for that, which 
depends on others? How could such a result 
ensue, were it not for the perversion of our de- 
sires, and the prevailing ignorance, as to the 



256 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

nature of our faculties ? An evil of perhaps higher 
moment, is the deplorable intolerance which exists 
with respect to political and religious tenets. A 
merit is made of opinion, as if there could be any, 
in that which revolves so much upon accident, 
and imperfect impulses. Even when we have 
tried to arrive at just conclusions, it confers no 
right to trample on others, who have not enjoyed 
equal opportunities, or who have not been placed 
under the influence of the same motives. If our 
exertions have merely had the effect of strengthen- 
ing us in error, there can be room, for nothing but 
humiliation : if indeed, we have been so happy as 
to arrive at truth, we can only have reason for 
regret, that others have been less fortunate than 
ourselves. But who has the patent of infallibility ? 
When we reflect on the multitudes who differ 
from us, and consider that their faculties are fre- 
quently as well, if not better cultivated, than our 
own, ought it not to inspire a little doubt, if not 
as to the certainty of our own conclusions, at 
least, as to the propriety of condemning those of 
others? The wise and good indeed, display a 
tolerance which none others evince, for they ex- 
hibit it towards those whom they know to be in 
error, and by whom they are often spitefully, and 
wickedly used. This in truth, is the test of wis- 
dom and goodness ; and he who cannot feel com- 
passion and forgiveness, towards malignity and 
vice, even when exercised towards himself, may 
rest assured that his heart and his head, are equally 
defective. This is said without prejudice to the 



ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 257 

measures of defence, and it may be of offence, 
which we may be compelled to practise towards 
the vicious. It were imbecility to submit to the 
mercy of the wicked: moral resistance with re- 
gard to all iniquity, is among the highest of our 
duties. 

In education, defective moral and intellectual 
training, is productive of peculiar evil. The 
employments of childhood are not always well 
regulated, and results are obtained far inferior 
to what might otherwise be realized. Our men- 
tal and moral powers are sufficiently great for 
every useful purpose ; but they are too frequently 
overtasked, or erroneously directed. It is enough 
to awaken sorrow and indignation, when we con- 
sider what the human mind is capable of, and 
what it is actually made to accomplish. Thus, 
one child with imperfectly awakened faculties, 
has his attention chained down to a task, which, 
to another farther advanced, hardly costs an 
effort. Compositions are dictated, which involve 
a stock of words and phrases, to instil which, no 
adequate means have been taken. Mathematical 
and arithmetical details are entered into at a 
period, when the knowledge of life should be 
communicated ; the learner's time is occupied 
with dead languages, when he should be busied 
with living ones, and above all, mental and moral 
science is neglected. Too many things, the 
majority of them useless with regard to the indi- 
vidual, are communicated, none of them perhaps 
effectually. Every thing is taught except the 



258 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

art of thinking correctly, that of all others, the 
most to be desired. Plain, unaffected good 
sense, based upon sound moral and intellectual 
instruction, through the medium of the mother 
tongue, and adapted to the contingencies and 
casualties of life, is what is most needed. Other 
acquirements are trash in comparison, yet it is 
precisely that, which is least frequently instilled. 
If the requisite just named, be possessed, there 
can be no objection to additional knowledge; 
but if it be deficient, nothing can fill its place. 
It is gross ignorance of the physiology of the 
human mind, which leads to excessive mental 
exertion, to the prejudice or ruin of the organs 
of relation, by which our acquirements are ef- 
fected. This observation holds good, whether it 
be applied to tender childhood, ardent youth, or 
veteran manhood. With imperfect cultivation, 
the faculties must be imperfectly eliminated, or 
take an injurious direction. Indeed, it only re- 
quires us to cast our eyes around, to be aware of 
the melancholy truth, that the intellects of the 
great majority, lie waste and barren. How dif- 
ferent would the earth appear, if this were other- 
wise; how different must it become, when this 
condition shall cease? Few would then be the 
evils, with which human beings are now afflicted, 
in consequence of their folly, their ignorance, and 
their immorality. In vain shall the legislator 
and the moralist, cry up the advantages of 
knowledge and energy, until education, and the 
communication of truth at large, be made com- 



ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 259 

mensurate with the powers, and the capabilities of 
mankind. It must not be partial, or one sided — 
there must be no reserve, otherwise moral de- 
formity must result. How imperfect for example, 
is the individual who is merely a linguist, a ma- 
thematician, or in fine, in the possession of any 
single branch of knowledge? To excel indeed, 
we must devote ourselves to a few subjects, but 
not so as to exclude a general acquaintance with 
the rest. In no case however, should anything 
be permitted to supersede an intimate knowledge 
of moral and intellectual truth, of our maternal 
tongue, and of the practical duties of life. 

It is highly necessary, that that part of the 
physiology of the mind, which relates to the ac- 
quisition of knowledge, should be properly un- 
derstood by parent and teacher. Learning, in 
the first instance, is attended with painful labour. 
This, the pupil has to surmount, principally by 
his own exertions, and partly, with the assistance 
of others. It will not do to superadd natural, to 
artificial obstacles, or to make the task, one of 
additional pain and terror ; he who does so, must 
have mistaken his vocation. The continual effort 
of the instructor, should be to raise the moral 
tone of the pupil ; to lessen his repugnance, and 
to furnish motives for exertion. The certainty 
of future pleasure and advantage, from present 
toil, should be strenuously inculcated, and every 
appliance furnished, that kindness and experience 
can supply. Above all, moral incitements should 
be created, but this is the work of time. Once 



260 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

however, the natural reward of labour and of 
treasured knowledge has been realized, little more 
will be necessary than to direct the awakened in- 
tellect. Great patience and enlightened firmness, 
are necessary to the successful control of the 
tender, but complicated powers of the youthful 
mind. How many have been doomed to irre- 
claimable dulness, by the ignorance, the incapa- 
city, and the cruelty of teachers ? 

A powerful element is habit. Do not give the 
pupil too much, nor yet too little to do; exact 
the accurate performance of his task, and allow 
no remissson, except in the event of sickness or 
accident. Rest days, and holidays, have generally 
an inferior tendency, by inducing the pupil to 
look upon idleness as a pleasure. On the con- 
trary, every day in which something is learned — 
something redeemed from the gulf of ignorance, 
and fleetly-passing time, should be counted a 
holiday. With proper treatment, young people 
would be satisfied with the relaxation that each 
day afforded ; but then, they should not be over- 
tasked, nor have their exertions associated with 
disagreeable occurrences. The act of acquiring, 
or of communicating knowledge, is pleasant to a 
well-trained mind. There is something in the 
progressive changes of an enlarging intellect, that 
every highly-principled, and highly-endowed in- 
dividual, must contemplate with delight. One 
who has been habituated to steady, but not ex- 
cessive exertion, will rarely be turned in after 
years, from the duty of acquiring, and usefully 



ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 261 

applying knowledge. If indeed, the understan- 
ding, whether relatively or absolutely, be over- 
tasked, it is apt to sink into a languor, from 
which it slowly, or perhaps never emerges. The 
great maxim should be to hasten slowly, since this 
is to secure the greatest progress in a given time. 
Appeals to brute force are wholly to be depre- 
cated ; nothing but extreme cases can justify them ; 
and it is questionable whether such can ever occur> 
in the hands of enlightened teachers. Too fre- 
quently, they are but the evidence of ill temper 
or incapacity. Corporeal punishment brutalizes 
the obdurate, and breaks down the spirit of the 
gentle and innocent; it should be wholly pros- 
cribed as a remnant of barbarism. The unlimited 
licence of verbal abuse, is hardly less reprehen- 
sible. Every means should be taken to conciliate 
and foster the self-respect of the pupil, sometimes 
alas, for ever torn and blighted, by cruelty and 
ignorance. Open rebuke and mortification should 
not be resorted to, until private remonstrance has 
failed, and even then, sparingly. In fine, the 
instructor should insist on the ignominy of igno- 
rance and imbecility, while he should dilate on 
the endless advantages that accrue from intellec- 
tual and moral culture. 

3. It is to be regretted, that familiarity should 
dull our perceptions, as to the wonderful nature 
of occurrences. What for example, can be more 
so, than that our physical and mental energies 
should be nearly suspended by sleep, for so large 
a portion of every four and twenty hours? If 



262 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

we inquire into this phenomenon, we are able to 
see no reason when we wake, why we should not 
always wake, or when we sleep, why we should 
ever cease to sleep. The final cause is involved 
in the incapacity of our organization, to continue 
its exertions unremittingly, but the efficient, we 
do not know. Sometimes, sleep is sound and 
unbroken; at others, we are affected not only 
with sensations, but ideas and feelings. A few 
it is said, never dream. What these peculiarities 
depend on, it is not easy to know. In febrile 
complaints, and during every kind of excitement, 
dreams are more frequent. These phenomena 
have long been the subject of observation, but 
never of explanation. Striking events or emo- 
tions of any kind, that have taken place during 
the day, but more especially, before the hour of 
rest, are apt to be reproduced in sleep. One, 
out of the many singular occurrences in this 
state, is that of being wholly unaware of our 
situation; a provision that was necessary to se- 
cure the continuance of uninterrupted rest. Every 
thing during sleep, wears the aspect of reality ; a 
sensation is referred to some exterior cause, and 
we hold seeming converse with things without. 
The mind appears to act in some way unknown, 
on the organs of relation. Thus, we see as if 
with our eyes, and hear as if with our ears. 
Sometimes indeed, the mind goes a step farther, 
and the remarkable condition called sleep-walk- 
ing, is produced. Some during sleep, manifest 
considerable mental acumen; they will compose 



ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 263 

poetry, utter jests, and even solve intricate prob- 
lems. These exertions however, bear a close 
relation to the waking powers: the man of ge- 
nius is never dull, even in his dreams. We are 
also capable of emotions, which rival in intensity 
those of waking life. They may be connected 
with real events, or with others wholly imaginary. 
These however, are never suspected to be so, 
until the dreamer awakes to the nothingness of 
his sorrow, or the emptiness of his joy. The 
good will repeat the beneficence, and the bad, 
the evil of the preceding day ; while occasionally, 
acts are performed which have no waking ana- 
logues. As the judgment, owing to the absence 
of realities, is often feeble, so the most fantastic 
compounds are created. Instructed and orderly 
minds, are less liable than others, to the delusions 
of the night ; and he did not err, who asserted 
that we should not be entirely indifferent to the 
tenor of our dreams. 

We cannot occasion sleep by the immediate 
fiat of the will, though we can often do so, by in- 
direct means. A variety of substances induce 
it, we know not how. In the arch imposture 
styled animal magnetism, we are told that by 
certain manipulations, a magnetic sleep is in- 
duced. In this state, the subject is said to hear 
with the pit of the stomach: to see with the 
eyes shut ; to foretel events, and to perform other 
feats, equally marvellous, revolting, and incredible. 
This jugglery has spread to a considerable ex- 
tent, although the early exposure of its real 



264 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

nature by Franklin and others, might have proved 
sufficient to extirpate it for ever. There are a 
number of nervous affections, such as catalepsy, 
hysteria, convulsions, nightmare, and sleep-walk- 
ing, upon which the animal magnetists have laid 
considerable stress ; as if these conditions, suffi- 
ciently obscure and difficult in themselves, could 
be further elucidated by fraud and imposture, or 
at all events, of error and delusion. It was once 
supposed, and still is by a few, that dreams had 
some reference to the future; but it is obvious 
that they are a case of irregular association, and 
can have no such reference, any more than the 
ordinary anticipations of waking moments. 

4. Not less remarkable is insanity. Beyond 
a certain point, its physiology is unknown. This 
however, is equally true of all disease, and of 
every condition of existence. The subjects of mad- 
ness, observe, feel, and reflect, differently from 
the rest of mankind, as well as from each other. 
Not to preserve our moral and intellectual rela- 
tions, is to become insane. The remote causes 
of insanity are numerous, but with the proximate 
ones, we are unacquainted. Some appear par- 
tially aware of their situation, while others are 
wholly unconscious of it. The latter never sus- 
pect their condition, until they either recover, or 
till the dream of life itself, is over. There are 
many gradations, from those in which slight men- 
tal aberrations librate with perfect reason, to those 
in which the latter is entirely lost. It has been 
proposed to call some of these, by the term mono- 



ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 265 

mania; the title however, is imperfect. People 
to all appearance, are insane during paroxysms 
of rage and drunkenness, as well as in some 
diseases. Other passions besides the former, 
serve to induce it for the time: the dancing 
mania of the middle ages, religious wars, and the 
deadly ebullitions of fanaticism, afford examples 
on a grand scale. Materialists have endeavoured 
to connect insanity with organic lesions, though 
it is a matter of daily observation, that it gene- 
rally arises from moral causes. Those who al- 
locate the faculties to arbitrary divisions of the 
brain, would fain connect it with disease of such 
portions. The absurd and incoherent language, 
and the irregular conduct of the maniac, result 
from some anterior mental change, the nature of 
which is wholly unknown. Insanity may be cha- 
racterized by greater or less irregularity, of the 
intellectual associations and reasoning powers, and 
by the absence or perversion, of the feelings and 
moral faculties. In idiots, the moral, the intel- 
lectual, and the physical powers, are deranged, 
and almost wholly lost. Idiotcy, may exist at 
birth, and it may be induced in childhood, or at 
periods more or less advanced. It has been caused 
in some, by the overwhelming pressure of sudden 
calamity. Insanity is a disease of adult age, and 
rarely occurs in children ; it is also the appanage 
of civilized life. As society improves, and as 
moral, intellectual, and physical training is better 
attended to, this unhappy malady will become 
rarer and rarer, until it for ever disappears. 



266 ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

We observe partial loss of memory, or absence 
of mind, but we do not in such cases, impute in- 
sanity. Yet, the eccentricities of some people 
proceed so far, as to verge upon this condition. 
When wisdom however, is the exception, and 
folly the rule, there is little doubt that the former, 
would be styled eccentricity and madness. Unless 
it be contended that the practice of the world, be 
the acme of wisdom and excellence, it will per- 
haps be admitted that the conduct of one, who 
should manifest more than ordinary indifference 
to wealth, fame, and honours, and who should 
square his conduct on all occasions, by the rules 
of justice, temperance, and piety, would be looked 
upon by most, as manifesting no ordinary eccen- 
tricity. It is a duty incumbent upon every one, 
to cultivate his feelings and his intellect in the 
best direction, and so to regulate them, that they 
may never pass the boundaries of moderation and 
propriety. 

In this short sketch, the inestimable impor- 
tance of the knowledge of mind, has been held up 
to view. It has been shewn that it is equally 
desirable in every condition of life, and that 
without it, we are liable to grievous errors of con- 
duct — as the misery, folly and iniquity, hitherto, 
and at present prevalent in the world, too clearly 
testify. 



267 



CHAPTER XXL 

ON THE INFLUENCE OF MIND ON BODY, AND ON THE 
FEELINGS. 



I. Some countervailing influence was neces- 
sary, to enable the mind to resist corporeal im- 
pulses, and this has been furnished accordingly, 
by certain properties of the mind itself. Intel- 
lect and passion respectively, are equal to the 
task of controlling the dictates of the body. The 
victories so often achieved over sickness and pain, 
establish this beyond a doubt. In addition how- 
ever, to intellectual culture, and strength of pas- 
sion, the habit of moral resistance adds greatly 
to the facility. The nobility of our nature is 
strongly displayed, in the half-developed frag- 
ments seen throughout the world; yet all the 
excellencies which mankind have at any time 
evinced, might perhaps be concentrated. If this 
be not possible, of what avail is it to point to his- 
torical examples, or to the specimens of supe- 
riority which are everywhere to be met with? 
When the high-minded martyr to the free ex- 
pression of opinion, whether it relate to political 
or religious liberty, stands up at the stake, or 
kneels down at the block — when the dauntless 
Indian bears unmoved, the tortures inflicted by 
his mortal enemies — and when the poor Hindoo 



268 ON THE INFLUENCE OF MIND. 

sits by her husband's corse, while consuming 
flames wing their way to her heart — they one and 
all, display some precious token of our capabili- 
ties, and illustrate in the strongest manner, the 
power of the human mind over the human frame. 
In times long past, when life was less secure, and 
exile and suffering more common than at present, 
a body of precepts was drawn up on this very 
subject. Assuredly, it was wise for men — the 
lovers of wisdom in particular, to prepare for 
the evils to which they were liable, and to prefer 
death to life, and pain to pleasure, when the 
alternative was dishonour and base subserviency. 
They quailed neither before artificial inflictions, 
nor those contingent on the common lot, and left 
behind them a code of morality, which in some 
respects, has been rarely equalled, and never sur- 
passed. The Stoics it is well known, confirmed 
their doctrines by their practice ; and when Seneca 
and Thrasea by the fiat of a sanguinary tyrant, 
were condemned to death, they respectively met 
their fate without either shrinking or complain- 
ing. Human nature however, is too progressive, 
to be chained down to any set of examples, how- 
ever illustrious. Let us take the good which we 
find in each, and reject the ill; for there are none 
without the former, and certainly, none without 
the latter. 

There are also, other forms, in which the 
powers of the soul, are manifested over the 
trammels of matter. We see men victoriously 
resisting the accumulated influences of cold, 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF MIND. 269 

hunger and disease ; and we witness the mother, 
the sister, the daughter, and the wife, watch day- 
after day, and night after night, by the well- 
beloved couch, with an untiringness and a con- 
stancy of purpose, which demonstrate so much 
the more the pre-eminence of mind, as the body 
too often, sinks in the struggle. The devotion 
of women to the objects of their affection, is seen 
in the midst of toil, hardship, and wretchedness ; 
while they have sealed the testimony of their 
courage, by the sacrifice of their mortal existence 
under circumstances the most trying. All these 
things go to shew that there is a something which 
is not matter, and which, by braving the accumu- 
lated ills of mortality, proves that there is a con- 
dition still superior, and one, in which human 
suffering and human sorrows, can afflict us no 
more. 

It is quite certain, that courage and equanimity 
are best calculated to bear us through the ills 
of life, and whether we languish on the bed of 
sickness, or are about to undergo the last change 
of mortality, that they will assist us to yield with 
dignity and submission to the disposal of Provi- 
dence. The exaggeration of what has been 
termed the instinct of preservation, aggravates 
the evils of our position. We have enough to 
encounter, without adding needless fears to the 
burthen of our lot. Fear indeed, subjects us to 
dangers which we should not otherwise incur, 
and multiplies the accidents to which we are 
liable. For, as an ancient moralist has observed, 



270 ON THE INFLUENCE OF MIND. 

it is not so much the things that befal us, as the 
opinion which we have formed of them, that is 
truly formidable. Mental and moral culture 
then, averts imaginary evils, and enables us to 
undergo with fortitude, those to which we are 
inevitably exposed. Courage, will not ward off 
sickness and death, but it will ward off what is 
worse — the fear of these. We should not so 
much wish to live long, as to live well ; to exempt 
ourselves from pain and suffering, as from igno- 
rance, vice, and all the qualities that degrade 
humanity. 

II. The influence of the understanding on the 
feelings, passions, and moral principles, deserves 
careful consideration. It is certain that the 
elimination of these, is by no means in the ratio 
of mental cultivation. Catherine de Medicis was 
a woman of talent, although in some respects, a 
monster of iniquity: the same may be said of 
Alexander the sixth, and of his son, Caesar Borgia. 
In truth, the most infamous atrocities, are often 
projected and executed with singular ability. It 
is not uncommon to witness a crusade of bigotry 
and intolerance, or of civil and political oppres- 
sion, conducted with a degree of skill, which in a 
better direction, might have proved highly ser- 
viceable. It is certain then, that mere intellectual 
cultivation is not equivalent to the development 
of the feelings and moral principles. The infe- 
rences flowing from this, are of vast practical 
value. They shew teachers, parents, and legis- 
lators, that direct means must be taken for the culti- 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF MIND. 27l 

vation of the heart, and that it will not do to address 
the understanding alone. Yet the one, must go 
hand in hand with the other. Without knowledge 
and active talent, the feelings are liable to be con- 
nected with improper objects, or to be transferred 
to the grossest, and most degrading superstitions. 
What means so effectual, can be devised to secure 
the purity of our nature, as the united influence 
of heart and understanding? In infancy, the 
budding feelings must be directed, and prevented 
from forming prejudicial alliances. The teacher 
or the parent, who suffers them to be smothered 
in their growth ; to be imperfectly developed, or 
erroneously directed, fails in the performance of 
a vital duty. Mental development enables its 
possessor, to cultivate the feelings to any desirable 
extent, but those of the ignorant, are the sport of 
circumstances. Hence, the ample store of virtu- 
ous pleasures, accruing from rational feelings and 
ideas, on the subject of religion and morality; on 
the works of God; on human nature; and on 
science, literature and art. The feelings and 
ideas which exist in the minds of the ignorant, 
are comparatively few and unimportant ; in those 
however, whose moral faculties are developed, 
and whose knowledge is extended, they are next 
to innumerable. Thus, the further we proceed 
in the analysis of our being, the more fully shall 
we assent to the concurring voices of the wisest 
individuals of every country and time, that all 
our capabilities, whether of feeling or intellect, 
should be elicited. 



272 



CHAPTER XXII. 

ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT, WITH A 
VIEW TO OUR GREATEST ADVANTAGE, AND THAT 
OF OTHERS. 



1. The proper regulation of the intellect, in- 
volves a variety of particulars, among which, the 
acquisition and diffusion of knowledge, hold an 
important place. I have endeavoured to shew 
the paramount necessity of mental and moral 
culture. Nature indeed, has so constituted us, 
that the one, cannot well be compassed without 
the other. There is nothing absolute, in the 
quantity of knowledge necessary to moral train- 
ing. Individuals with excellent hearts, will some- 
times be seen with little general information; 
while those in whom it is extensive, will be found 
morally defective. It is knowledge, moral and 
intellectual, that causes the difference between 
the man of science and the savage ; between civi- 
lization and barbarism ; and between fanaticism 
and true religion — in a word, it is the comple- 
ment of virtue, and the foundation of excellence 
— the instrument of man's advancement, and the 
characteristic of his better nature. Its attain- 
ment should be paramountly active; the mind 
should be ever on the alert to seize the relations, 
and to appreciate the conditions of things. This 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 273 

cannot be done without energetic exertion, con- 
tinued day after day, and year after year. It 
requires a long series of efforts to build up the 
mind. Without gainsaying the gigantic utility 
of books, it must be admitted that their abuse has 
led to an indolent, ill-discriminating tone of mind, 
which has too often caused names, and the sym- 
bols of knowledge, to be substituted for the reality. 
The mere perusal of a multitude of books, will 
not suffice. Our studies should be limited, and 
judiciously directed, while the works which we 
have chosen, should be perused, and re-perused, 
noting their leading points, and reflecting on 
them. Intellectual activity is the characteristic 
of genius, and varies with the time and attention 
which is devoted to its cultivation. Like every 
other habit, it is at first slow of acquirement, and 
difficult of performance; not less with the early 
efforts of the greatest proficient, than with those 
of the most illiterate. We seldom reflect on the 
vast interval that separates the beginner from the 
adept. The latter, has gone over a multitude of 
acts, all tending to the same object, and eventually 
ensui'ing its attainment. People see the beginning 
and the end, but forget the intermediate steps; 
referring to individual talent, that which in reality, 
is the result of practice and assiduity. The talent 
indeed, is general, and the materials everywhere, 
for those who are inclined to make use of them. 
Next to the pursuit of moral excellence, the cul 
tivation of the mind, is the duty most incumbent 
on every human being; and when we consider 



274 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

that the former itself, cannot be compassed with- 
out the acquisition of knowledge, the latter be- 
comes imperative, as a branch of duty. The 
efforts of spiritual and political despotism, to 
decry its diffusion, though successful in partial 
instances, and for a time, must finally cease. 
Knowledge shall prevail over ignorance and bar- 
barism, so surely as light prevails over darkness ; 
while all opposition must be eventually overcome, 
by the continual progress of civilization and 
truth. 

I. Next to its acquisition, the diffusion of 
knowledge, claims our earnest attention. Of 
what avail is it to be instructed, if others remain 
ignorant ? Knowledge is power, but like money, 
it ceases to be so, when not in circulation. A 
morally enlightened man, has but an indifferent 
prospect amidst a community that is otherwise. 
He may be happy in his own mind, and inde- 
pendent of others ; he may surprise the mass by 
the exhibition of qualities which they do not 
understand, but it is uncertain whether he shall 
obtain their respect, or the protection which is 
his due. Physical knowledge indeed, is more 
impressive among the uncivilized, and the man 
who can awaken their fears, or contribute to their 
preservation, by his command over the secret 
phenomena of nature, will probably be regarded 
as a superior being. Nevertheless, at particular 
periods, such persons have experienced the most 
cruel treatment, and it was only by pretensions 
far beyond the reality, that they were sometimes 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 275 

able to obtain a doubtful immunity. Moral 
knowledge however, even to this day, confers no 
such privileges. If its possessor indeed, choose 
to enrol himself in some dominant party, he may 
perhaps be secure ; but if the single-minded ad- 
vocacy and profession of truth be his object, he 
need expect little favour. His character and 
conduct will be appreciated by the enlightened 
few; but he will be liable to misinterpretation 
and calumny at the hands of the many. Nothing 
can cure this, but the calm profession and steady 
diffusion of what is true. Some may urge the 
seeming dangers and disadvantages attendant on 
this line of conduct, but the question simply is, 
between the profession, or the suppression — the 
diffusion or the non-diffusion of truth. Everything 
with which men are acquainted, whether as re- 
gards physical or moral science — everything 
that distinguishes man from the animals beneath 
him, must at one time have been confined to a 
single bosom. If discoveries had always been 
silenced, the mass must have remained in reme- 
diless barbarism. People say it is not time — it 
is not yet time to teach the truth; the world is 
not fit to receive it. But how can it be made so, 
unless by the diffusion of knowledge ? If we re- 
fuse, for whom do we wait? The world is not 
to be enlightened by its own spontaneous volitions ; 
the change can only be accomplished by reite- 
rated impressions, gradually influencing the com- 
munity at large. As a general rule, it is the 
duty of every one to profess what he believes; 



276 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

any conclusion opposed to this, can only arise 
from error or fear. Doubtless, prudence and 
moderation are incumbent on all, but assuredly, 
these can never go the length of suppressing what 
is true. When we reflect that everything of ex- 
cellence, was the result of isolated discoveries 
made manifest for the good of mankind, senti- 
ments of admiration and gratitude, glow within 
us towards those generous spirits, to whose efforts 
existing generations are so largely indebted. 
Unless we are so presumptuous as to assert that 
we have arrived at the summit of perfection — or 
if otherwise, we admit that the world is to go on 
in an unceasing progression of truth and excel- 
lence, it can only be by the labours of indivi- 
duals, adding to what is known, and assisting in 
its diffusion among the mass of mankind. 

Knowledge is circulated by education, adult 
instruction, conversation, and the press. The 
difficulty of erasing early prejudices, places the 
importance of education in a more striking light. 
In so far as it is well conducted, it sharpens the 
faculties, and lessens the obstacles to the enlight- 
enment of the mind. The bias is soon contracted, 
that is to decide the fate of the individual for 
good or for ill; a good education therefore, sin- 
gularly promotes, while a bad one as decidedly 
impedes, the advantages derivable from superior 
after training. The most assiduous care should 
be taken, to secure the best education for every 
child in the community ; it is an advantage too 
precious to be left to the caprice of any. No 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 2?7 

parent should be permitted to bring up his off- 
spring in moral or intellectual ignorance, any 
more than to neglect their physical well-being, or 
to instil vicious practices. Society is bound to 
see that no one contravenes the imprescriptible 
rights of humanity, or those great moral laws, the 
observance of which, is equally imperative upon 
all mankind. Assuredly, it is not less called 
upon to protect the young, the innocent, and the 
helpless, than the grown-up, the vigorous, and the 
active. Every child whether male or female, 
rich or poor, should receive the best education 
that it is possible to impart. Upon what pre- 
tence can we establish the monopoly — if know- 
ledge be useful to one, it is so to all ? Of all the 
means which we possess for bettering the con- 
dition of our race, it is at once the most benefi- 
cial, for the individual and for the species. 

Everything should be done to eliminate the 
latent capabilities of the infant mind ; none of them 
should be suffered to he dormant. The business 
of instruction might perhaps, be further subdi- 
vided, and the task of enforcing varied, yet pro- 
gressive attainments, intrusted to a greater number. 
A parallel is often drawn between public and pri- 
vate instruction : both have their advantages. A 
school cannot supply the moral training of a home, 
or develop the affections which unite a family, in 
never to be extinguished love. It causes the 
child however, to become the member of a larger 
circle, to contract various attachments, and to see 
society under a different aspect. He is encou- 



278 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

raged, directed, and stimulated, by the exertions 
of others ; and he obtains a lively forecast of the 
strifes, the cares, and the rivalries, of life. Young 
men should proceed with their education, until 
twenty or more, gradually increasing the time 
which is devoted to active occupations. It is well 
to initiate young people early into the business 
of life, but not so as to interrupt the acquisition of 
knowledge. If possible, men ought not to be so 
engrossed with the means, as to lose sight of the 
end. One feels astonished at the multitudes, that 
are kept from day to day, in situations, which, 
although they may not occupy half their time, ex- 
clude them as effectually from instruction, as if 
they were stationed in a desert — and in very 
truth, they are placed in a moral desert. The 
information, in the acquisition of which, it imparts 
all to labour, is that which purifies the heart, and 
elevates the understanding. Above all, the young 
of both sexes, should be taught the all-important 
duty of energy and self-dependence, in subor- 
dination to moral control ; while every available 
means should be made use of, that will form these 
invaluable principles into abiding habits. 

Adult schools are an anomaly in a civilized 
country. It is deplorable that men and women, 
should have to receive the information which 
ought to be communicated during infancy. 
Museums, works of art, conversation, lectures, 
and the press, are copious sources of information. 
The two first, communicate an instruction which 
books are inadequate to yield; and while they 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 279 

furnish harmless recreation, sow the seeds of ci- 
vilization and refinement. Working models of 
useful machinery, paintings, and sculptures, if 
not originals, at least good copies, should every- 
where abound. The beneficial influence of works 
of art, in subordination to means still superior, is 
enormous. A more discerning posterity will not 
neglect them, nor confine their utility to that of 
the scanty, and paid-for exhibitions of large towns. 
The achievements of science and art, are for the 
common behoof of mankind : the poor, not less 
than the rich ; the toil-worn artisan, not less than 
the luxurious possessor of copious wealth. Thus, 
it is however, in the world; the refinements and 
amenities, that would mitigate and diversify the 
cares of life, and which should be free as air to all 
— are confined to the few. 

On the usefulness of books, it is needless to 
expatiate ; every means should be taken to ren- 
der them accessible. Select collections sufficient 
for the requirements of the working-classes, 
ought to be universal. Taxes should be taken 
off paper and all the implements used in print- 
ing; the duties on foreign works ought to be 
abolished, and every facility afforded for the 
transmission of pamphlets and newspapers. Im- 
pediments, with regard to the circulation of 
knowledge, are a direct premium on the conti- 
nuance of ignorance and vice. Newspapers 
would improve with the improvement of society ; 
well-educated and moral men, would alone be 
tolerated as conductors, and they would become. 



280 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

to a greater extent than at present, the vehicles 
of useful information. If the community be par- 
tially instructed, agitated by fanaticism, or the 
explosions of party feeling, newspapers will re- 
flect the sentiments of the mass; but if every 
source of instruction be opened out, they will 
powerfully aid the general progress. They 
would then, become the organs of an enlightened 
public opinion, and wear the exclusive impress 
of knowledge and civilization. It is difficult to 
find terms sufficiently energetic, to depict the 
impolicy and narrow-mindedness of every re- 
striction on the diffusion of information. Were 
a community afflicted with a destroying pesti- 
lence, would not the government which limited 
the employment of the only remedies that were 
calculated to grapple with it, be justly looked 
upon as barbarous? Yet, the most manageable 
disease is not curable with greater certainty, than 
are vice and ignorance — the diseases of the soul, 
by means of moral and intellectual culture. 

The pleasures accruing from social intercourse 
through the medium of conversation, are perhaps 
among the greatest of which existence is suscep- 
tible. If society were somewhat less artificially 
divided, and if means could be devised for obvi- 
ating the jealousies of individuals, and for allow- 
ing the intelligent of different classes to meet 
occasionally together, vast good would result. 
Something of the kind takes place in scientific 
associations, but to a limited extent. Mankind 
survey one another, not so much as human beings, 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 281 

as invested with the unmeaning, and too often 
injurious conventions of rank and station. If the 
elevated, would sometimes mix with the lowly 
born; the peer with the peasant, and the hard- 
wrought artisan; and the lady of rank with the 
toil-worn woman — if they would but think, all 
temporary distinctions apart, that they partici- 
pated in one common lot ; shared in the same 
wants, the same hopes, and the same fears ; and 
that they were equally to pass through the secret 
portal, that separates a temporary, from an eter- 
nal existence, it would be consecrated by infinite 
advantages. Each would experience an interest 
unfelt before, in the other's welfare ; and sympa- 
thy for each other's wants, and each other's woes, 
would fill their hearts. It is in truth, difficult to 
say how far the different classes of society, intel- 
lectually and morally speaking, suffer from the 
imperfect and limited intercourse which they now 
maintain with each other. 

2. Next to the generation of moral, that of in- 
tellectual energy, is most important. There is 
this difficulty however, in its production, that it 
is at once, means and end. In the first instance, 
we have to depend on others; afterwards, on 
ourselves. The best way, is the assiduous culti- 
vation of all our faculties. Every opportunity in 
active life, that will enable us to apply our acquisi- 
tions judiciously and well, should be turned to 
account. Energy, will not come of itself, or by 
means of vague, short-lived, and ill-directed ef- 
forts. The value of active exertion, and of per- 



282 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

petual struggles with the stormy elements of life, 
is shewn in the lives of soldiers, sailors, and 
public men. During rude periods of society, 
and even still, individuals of stupendous energy 
sometimes make their appearance, and pursue 
their onward path whether for good or for ill, 
with a vehemence that it is not easy to limit or sub- 
due. Occasionally also, rare beings, born as it 
were to shew the magnificent capabilities of our 
nature, come upon the arena of mortality — 
beings whose energy is equally untiring and in- 
domitable, and whose objects are the happiness 
and the well-being of our race. These, are the 
men who are to be turned aside by no obstacle ; 
who continue their unrelaxing course in the 
midst of obloquy and reproach — praise or blame — 
the inflictions of poverty, exile, or death; who 
vindicate the noblest attributes of the human 
mind, and who prove by their conduct, whether 
living or dying, that well-directed, moral and in- 
tellectual energy, is among the highest of earthly 
possessions. A properly cultivated heart and 
understanding, furnish a supply of it, even upon 
the first demand. How many children, tender 
maidens, loving sisters, and devoted wives, have 
displayed a firmness and a presence of mind, 
amid scenes of danger and death, that nothing 
could appal? Practised energy however, is 
usually the most powerful, and he will shew most, 
in whom it has been oftenest called into action. 
I would urge the acquirement of that, which is 
adapted to the highest efforts, and most extensive 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 283 

usefulnesss. If it were possible, I would endow 
each member of the community with sufficient, to 
enable him to excel in the duties of domestic, as 
in those of public life : that would make every 
one a good parent, a good child, and a good 
brother or sister; that would teach individuals 
to forego their personal ease for the sake of 
others — to sacrifice all inferior considerations, 
and even life itself, in support of truth — to view 
all things in subordination to the providence of 
God, and to prepare for the final exit from this 
existence, and the commencement of a future one, 
with calmness, dignity, and cheerfulness. Now, 
all these are attainable by means of mental and 
moral culture; by the formation of good habits, 
and by a vigorous perseverance in every act, that 
redounds to the promotion of human excellence. 
I do not ask impossibilities — I require the per- 
formance of no visionary task. I have endea- 
voured to shew, that if men and women will but 
cultivate the innate powers of their hearts and 
understandings, they may realize, not only all 
that I have pointed at, but more than it has 
fallen to my particular lot, to conceive or imagine. 
In the pursuit of this, as in that of all other ex- 
cellencies, our own efforts will be most effective. 
Others may assist us at the onset, or during the 
course of our career, but the mind that is ambi- 
tious of goodness and truth, must achieve their 
possession for itself. 

3. Credulity and scepticism are relative terms. 
We may exhibit them with regard to both false- 



284 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

hood and truth. Error however, is usually im- 
plied; inasmuch as it would be an incongruity 
to style a person sceptical, who disbelieved a 
falsehood, or credulous, who believed a truth. 
Nothing is more common than to impute credu- 
lity, or scepticism, to persons who are chargeable 
with neither. It is good to doubt the false, and 
to believe the true,. but what is the criterion? 
Opposing sects lavish the offensive terms, for be- 
lieving, or disbelieving respectively, what each 
affirms to be false or true. It is not less our 
duty to seek the evidence of truth, than to doubt 
until we have found it. We are however, often 
required to believe upon testimony, not only in 
matters of science, but in the daily concerns of 
life, inasmuch as human powers are inadequate 
to embrace the infinite particulars of existence. 
In moral science, every one should be able to 
form an opinion for himself, not only because it 
is every man's concern, but because it involves 
the widest criterion for the determination of truth. 
It is the interest of all to arrive at it, though dis- 
torted views, sinister interests, and early preju- 
dices, too often sway the mind in a false direction. 
Many indeed, never seek for truth at all, but 
take up a gratuitous position from the first, em- 
bracing what supports, and shunning what runs 
counter to it. Some who begin this way, though 
rarely, may arrive at truth. It is impossible for 
every creed, whether political or otherwise, to be 
true, yet formal demonstrations exist on the sub- 
ject of all. Before proceeding to the search, the 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 285 

mind should be familiar with general principles, 
in all the wide diversity of moral and intellectual 
truth. This it is, which in this state of existence, 
places man upon the highest pinnacle which he 
is able to climb. A person may be a chemist, a 
mathematician, or a geologist, but without the 
knowledge in question, it is impossible for him to 
be a philosopher, or even to be possessed of su- 
perior discrimination. It is hard however, to 
induce men to pursue truth without bias or pre- 
occupation, or even to lead inquirers to relin- 
quish the prejudices with which their minds have 
been imbued. Every one with the smallest tinc- 
ture of information, is aware of the difficulty with 
which physical science has made its way. Moral 
science however, has only partially wrought its 
deliverance ; and as it has been, will continue to 
be opposed by all, whose temporary interests are 
mixed up with the preservation of the different 
views, whether sectarian or political, which it 
assails. Men may gain fame by the invention of 
paradoxes, and barren metaphysical hypotheses, 
but the cultivation of moral science for its own 
sake, and the simple enunciation of the infe- 
rences to which it leads, are too frequently, the 
signal for slander and persecution. It is vain to 
urge, that it concerns every one ; men of sordid 
or mistaken views, will not believe that, to be for 
their advantage, which has any tendency to 
threaten their position, or to withhold the profits 
which are derivable from the continuance of 
error. We should feel astonished were a Hin- 



286 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

doo to scrutinize his creed, with the calmness 
which we would not fail to display, were we to 
engage in the search ; yet we manifest little con- 
cern for the delusions under which we labour 
ourselves, and which cannot be removed, without 
laborious and unflinching examination. Error 
is too often attended with a pomp and circum- 
stance of detail, that captivate the imagination, 
and assail the belief. The mind alone, that is 
fortified by moral and intellectual cultivation, 
cannot vacillate. The best rule is to test the 
alleged fact, in connexion with its particular 
evidence, by the incontrovertible experience of 
mankind, from which, except in the case of well- 
authenticated discoveries, it will rarely be found 
to depart. This general rule however, has ex- 
ceptions, as when error has become universal. 
Individuals under these circumstances, must have 
recourse to a higher evidence, drawn from the 
stores of moral and intellectual truth, which can 
hardly fail. The utility of experiment and direct 
observation, is obvious, but these cannot always 
be resorted to. It is certain however — such are 
the facilities with which the Deity has so plenti- 
fully endowed us for its discovery, that if we 
will but seek truth earnestly, and without undue 
bias, with all the powers of our hearts and un- 
derstandings, we shall most probably arrive at it. 
4. Mental pleasures cost nothing, and they are 
such as riches alone can never purchase. The 
comparative value of intellectual acquirements, 
and the order of their cultivation, must be deter- 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 287 

mined by their respective advantages, and by 
their tendency to enable us to perform our duties 
to the Deity, to our fellow-men, and to ourselves. 
Hence, it is desirable, that every one should pos- 
sess just and abiding perceptions, of the great 
principles of morality, as well as of the various 
utilities and relations of human pursuits. With- 
out these, we may be led away by the mere love 
of fame; though the principal value of mental 
culture, is as a means to an end; which end, is 
the better performance of the duties of life, and 
a clearer appreciation of the wonderful works, 
and moral government of God. It is not so 
much, what a person's knowledge and abilities 
are, as the use which he makes of them; since 
they are a trust and a gift from the Deity, for 
the promotion of our rational welfare, and that of 
others, and to enable us to act in conformity with 
the universal manifestations of God's wise and 
good providence. If a man have talent and 
information, it is well — let him turn them to ac- 
count; he is not at liberty to leave them in 
disuse, much less to devote them to improper 
purposes. How vain are the self-gratulations 
in which some indulge? Has nature endowed 
them with capabilities superior to those of their 
fellows, let nature be lauded for the gift ; but if 
fortunate circumstances, or careful instructors 
have led to their superiority, where is the scope 
for praise ? Let us cultivate knowledge, not only 
for its own sake, but on account of the capabili- 
ties which it confers of doing good, and of per- 



288 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

forming our duties with energy, ability, and suc- 
cess. When it is turned to evil purposes ; when 
it is used to foment rivalries ; to tyrannize over 
others, or as the instrument of vain and idle 
ostentation — in a word, when it is wrested from 
its legitimate purposes, then indeed, it ceases to 
be cultivated for its own sake, or for the sake of 
any thing that is wise or good. Yet, when we 
look abroad in the world, and take cognizance of 
the sectarian and political rivalries with which it 
abounds, as well as of the various immoralities 
which knowledge is made to subserve, we can 
hardly help feeling that in such cases, it were 
better there had been none, than that it should be 
turned to such inferior purposes. Far better 
indeed, were it for men to remain in ignorance, 
than that they should convert what they had 
learned, into an engine of iniquity. Hence it is, 
that we must insist again and again, on the ne- 
cessity of moral knowledge, on the cultivation of 
the heart, and on virtuous habits. Though 
science and literature can hardly be gained, with- 
out a tincture of moral knowledge ; still, the latter 
to be efficiently known, must be made the object 
of specific pursuit. 

5. Perhaps nothing would promote more effec- 
tually, the objects here insisted on, than the cul- 
tivation of a sense of accountability. Were it 
properly inculcated that every action necessarily 
leads to certain results, it would tend to the utmost . 
habitual circumspection. The prudence which 
we are to adopt however, is not of the circum- 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 28 ( J 

scribed character, that would square our conduct 
by inferior and partial motives, accommodated 
to temporary, and perhaps sinister interests, but 
the large and comprehensive prudence, that would 
regulate our thoughts, feelings, and impulses, by 
views of excellence and utility, not bounded by 
the present merely, but extending to the absent 
and future. This is the prudence that dwells 
lightly on existing evils, and existing toil, incurred 
in the promotion of good, and even repaid in the 
endurance, by the approbation of our best and 
purest feelings. Were a sense of accountability 
abidingly present, it would so modify our de- 
meanour in all times and places, whether alone 
or in society, that our lives would be uniformly 
characterized by purity and truth. In children 
especially, it should be fostered by every available 
means, since it would exercise the most beneficent 
influence on their after lives, and regulate the 
intellect to the production of usefulness, elevation, 
and truth. In fine, the cultivation of useful and 
virtuous intellectual occupations, cannot be too 
largely insisted on. No poverty, no press of 
business, no situation in life, need exclude us from 
the pursuit; and when carried on in the manner 
which has been recommended, cannot but re- 
dound to happiness and self-respect. 

The credulity of ignorant adults, is generally 
marked by some mental pre-occupation, that ren- 
ders the inculcation of error, easier than that of 
truth; children however, are equally ready to 
imbibe all impressions. Hence, a great moral 



290 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

duty devolves upon all who are engaged in the 
business of instruction, that they should take ad- 
vantage of the susceptibilities of childhood, for 
imbuing useful knowledge, and for developing 
the feelings which confer grace and dignity on 
humanity. The individual who neglects these 
precious moments, or who instils error, is not 
only guilty towards the innocent victim of his 
folly or indifference, but to generations unborn. 
The errors, the evil passions, and the stunted 
mental growth — sometimes the only fruits of 
childhood, are eradicated with difficulty, if ever, 
and too often remain for the purification of an- 
other state of existence. 

6. The importance of habit cannot be passed 
over in silence, with regard to the regulation of 
the mind. No single intellectual act can be con- 
sidered of great importance, until a habit has been 
formed. It is only after a time, that mental 
efforts become easy of performance, and steady 
in their recurrence ; nothing short of these, can 
render any one capable of speaking, writing, or 
thinking, with ease, correctness, and continuity. 
The individual must be conversant with the given 
topic ; he must reflect upon it, and try to express 
his thoughts with fluency and perspicuity. For 
want of this, persons really well-informed, are 
apt to blunder out their meaning, while the con- 
trary confers an attractiveness, even on what is 
superficial. And though correct thinking tends 
to correctness of expression, steady composition 
\ necessary to both. Energetic reflection yields 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 2<J1 

a pleasure, and produces a facility, that cannot 
well be imagined by the indolent and ill-informed. 
How many think carelessly on the most impor- 
tant topics, who would be ashamed to act in a 
similar manner, with regard to the minor con- 
cerns of life? How many minds are weed- 
grown, and infested with ignorance, prejudice, and 
error? Good habits then, must be formed, and 
kept in perpetual activity, if we would obtain and 
preserve, the dignity and excellence, of which a 
great and bountiful Benefactor has rendered us 
capable. Were a man told where he might have 
gold for the fetching, neither danger, distance, 
nor fatigue, would separate him from the pre- 
cious deposit; yet there are treasures of infinite 
price, in the recesses of the mind, more costly far, 
than the jewels of earth, and which every man 
may have if he will. 

7. It only now remains to enlarge on the ba- 
lance, that should subsist between the objective, 
and the subjective — the real, and the ideal world. 
The phenomena of mind however, are just as 
real as those connected with outward objects. 
By the constitution of our nature, we are obliged 
to pay incessant attention to the business of life. 
No man can neglect this, without perilling his 
existence ; yet the individual who cares for no- 
thing save outward concerns, is as far from pro- 
moting the end of his being, as the man who is 
wrapt up in the world of imagination. We owe 
an attention to the former, which befits a crea- 
ture whose temporal existence is involved in his 



292 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

connexion with material things ; but we are called 
on to commune with the still nearer concerns, of 
that which is to survive the perishable relations 
of our mortal being. Every man cannot be rich 
in temporal possessions ; but every one may be- 
come so, with regard to those of the mind. 
Attention to worldly interests is a matter of ne- 
cessity — to spiritual ones, it is a duty. 

Nature indeed, has richly provided for our 
animal, yet still more so, for our spiritual wants. 
The gratification of the former would have suf- 
ficed, had we been designed to exist on a level 
with the brute; we are intended however, for a 
more elevated destination. It has been so ordered, 
that our physical sustenance cannot be secured, 
without some degree of intellectual development ; 
and Divine goodness is manifested by the acces- 
sibility, universality, and permanence, of the 
means which promote this result. The immate- 
rial world is strongly recommended by its rich- 
ness and security. Fraud or violence may deprive 
us of earthly possessions, but cannot alienate 
those of the soul; and death, which surely takes 
away the one, secures an everlasting reversion 
of the other. The material world is necessary 
to our animal, but the immaterial, to our spiri- 
tual nature — the former promotes the things of 
this world, the latter, those of a future: the one 
fits us for earth, but the other for eternity. 

Were adequate conceptions of the great ends 
of existence general, we should hardly witness 
such a bustle after riches, honour, and power. 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 2Q3 

The pleasures of sense, though great, are momen- 
tary, and infinitely surpassed by the persistence 
and durability, of mental and moral gratifications. 
By this precious arrangement, an exclusive ad- 
diction to the former is obviated ; for shall we not 
prefer the riches that are at once inexhaustible 
and incorruptible? If mankind have erred on 
the road to happiness — if individuals languish in 
the lap of luxury, it is because they have courted 
that as an end, which should only have been 
sought as a means. We hear of the pursuit of 
wxalth, possessions, and empire; but what con- 
queror aspires to the boundless domains, wherein 
he may reign free and unopposed — in which, he 
will trench upon no one's rights, and cause no 
one's unhappiness, and of which, the duration is 
co-extensive with existence itself? Yet progres- 
sion is a feature in the history of man ; and we 
may perhaps venture to hope, ere ages have lapsed 
away, that a race will appear whose ambition it 
will be to diffuse knowledge, not to spread igno- 
rance — to propagate a sense of true religion, in 
place of the horrors of superstition and fanati- 
cism, and to urge with a success which has not 
hitherto graced the efforts of the wise and good, 
the excellencies, and the infinite superiority of 
the spiritual world, in opposition to all the plea- 
sures of sense. 

One who is initiated into the concerns of the 
former, cannot fail to discern the vast variety 
that exists among men. Some devote themselves 
with an energy worthy of nobler aspirations, to 



294 ON THE REGULATION OF THE INTELLECT. 

the world of sense, hardly dreaming it would 
seem, that there is another and a better. But 
there is in truth another, which though only par- 
tially discernible, we perceive to be fairer and 
more magnificent, than that which is revealed by 
our senses alone. Of the boundless and diversi- 
fied nature of the spiritual world, we can only 
form a faint and glimmering conception ; but we 
see enough to satisfy us, that when the curtain is 
lifted up which obscures our mortal vision, we 
shall become the spectators of a scene, which 
must infinitely excel all the conceptions which we 
are able to frame of it here. Every phenomenon 
of earth, every act of life, have their spiritual 
analogues, which, although they will not force 
themselves on the attention of the careless, may 
be seen in part, by those who will search after 
them. All point to their Author and Regulator ; 
and some of them, perhaps to a greater extent 
than we have any means of knowing, are related 
to other forms of existence. Our devotion to our 
Maker, and the various duties which we owe to 
ourselves and to our fellows, unite us with that 
other state of being, to which we are daily has- 
tening. Independent of these however, there is 
a host of feelings connected with our moral and 
intellectual manifestations, the arts, and sciences, 
as well as the vast panorama of nature, which also 
associate us with more extended scenes of percep- 
tion, and a wider sphere of action. In fine, it is 
to the world within the breast, that we are to look, 
however partially, for the solution of those won- 



ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 295 

derful enigmas of our mortal existence, which link 
us by an inscrutable bond, with the things that 
are without. The present, is the age of material 
utilities; of endless projects and speculations; of 
measures partially conceived, and imperfectly 
realized, for improving our earthly condition: 
but a period must arrive, in which, while our 
corporeal well-being is secured, the boundless 
regions of the moral and intellectual world, 
shall be better explored, and in which, means 
will be made use of, to secure to it also, the at- 
tention and cultivation that shall most redound to 
the promotion of our temporal and eternal welfare. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

ON THE BEST MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 



The leading points connected with the improve- 
ment of the mind, have already been enlarged on ; 
it only remains therefore, to mention that which 
has not been fully dilated on before. Correct 
moral, and intellectual, and subordinately, phy- 
sical culture, comprises the whole. The first, as 
it must ever be repeated, should be the most pro- 
minent feature in general education. Truth in- 
deed, must come from the heart, as well as from 
the head, and we should never have been endowed 



296 ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 

with the two-fold capability, had its cultivation 
not been intended. 

I. The utility of education is so great, that few 
have risen to eminence who have not enjoyed its 
advantages. Instances indeed, will be alleged, 
in which uneducated persons have excelled in 
literature, science, and art; this however, illus- 
trates another principle, but does not do away 
with the importance of that now insisted on. If 
we look around, we perceive that the powers of 
the great majority remain undeveloped; that few 
enjoy the advantages of superior moral and intel- 
lectual culture — in a word, that the infinite capa- 
bilities of mankind, remain nearly inert, from 
birth to the grave. If this were otherwise; if 
society would foster, with all its strength, the 
mighty utilities of education, excellence of every 
kind would as surely become the rule, as it is now 
the exception. Inasmuch as the interests of so- 
ciety are made up of those of individuals, by so 
much do the ignorance and prejudices of the latter, 
depreciate those interests. The omitted cultiva- 
tion of human powers, is not only individually, 
but collectively hurtful. It is for the advantage 
of the community, that no one should be immoral, 
or ignorant, since no one can be so, without injury 
to others. If mankind could once be convinced 
of the advantages derivable from universal train- 
ing, they would shew infinitely more zeal in its 
promotion, than they have ever displayed in any 
of the insane projects dictated by ambition, 
avarice, and superstition. How much energy is 



ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 297 

wasted on objects, whose tendency is worthless 
or uncertain? Wars in one place; crusades 
against opinion in another ; political struggles in 
a third ; all in relation to things, of which few 
have any well-defined conceptions. Let men's 
blood be heated; rouse them in defence of they 
know not what, and on they proceed, to the close 
of their career, squandering their powers, and 
bequeathing an unmeaning strife to their descen- 
dants. It is certain that the attention which is 
paid to education, will be in the direct ratio of 
intellectual and moral culture, and that it must 
go on with the progress of time, and general en- 
lightenment. The expenditure arising out of a 
single war, would educate the children of a whole 
people for ever. Nations of every creed and 
clime, might have their offspring imbued with that 
useful knowledge, and that cultivation of the 
heart, of which every human being, the least en- 
dowed with the better attributes of his species, 
admits the utility; while error and ignorance 
would fall off, never to be resumed. No really 
beneficial change can be thought of, even in spe- 
culation, which shall not be more than realized. 
No language indeed, is adequate to depict the 
utility of education ; it ministers to our moral and 
intellectual wants, nurturing the arts and sciences, 
with all the excellencies of humanity. Shall we 
not then, encourage it; shall we not strive, with 
our best energies, to direct and improve it? 

II. While dwelling on a subject so important, 
we must not omit to observe that education, in- 



298 ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 

dispensable though it be, forms but the initiative 
to that self-instruction, which it would be the 
business of after life to perfect. The one is the 
necessary complement of the other. Where there 
has been a good education in youth, unremitting 
self-instruction crowns the process. Without the 
former, the latter languishes ; but with it, proceeds 
vigorously, under the combined stimulus of pre- 
vious knowledge, industrious habits, and maturing 
faculties. The man who has been well educated, 
however vast the advantage which he thereby 
derives, is an imperfect being without the further 
aid of self-discipline. Neither the operation of 
external circumstances, the instruction of others, 
nor any earthly means, will otherwise suffice. 
The greatest benefit which education can confer, 
is that of preparing us for the energetic improve- 
ment of all our powers, through our own efforts. 
As it is, we should strive to impress the unspeak- 
able importance of the latter, on every human 
being who is desirous of realizing the excellencies 
of his nature, as the indispensable condition with- 
out which, it is impossible to secure any real or 
lasting progress. 

III. The influence of governments, were it 
properly directed, might be vastly increased; 
yet much of their power remains latent. This 
circumstance can only have arisen from an erro- 
neous conception of the duties incumbent on 
them. It is considered an affair of importance, 
when an alliance can be arranged with a foreign 
power, or a few square miles of territory secured ; 



ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 299 

compared with the real ends of government how- 
ever, such things are insignificant. The powers 
of individuals are limited, those of governments 
are unlimited. Every motive, human and divine, 
calls on these mighty social engines, to promote 
education to the utmost, and so far as may be, 
to aid in the fulfilment of the great ends of exist- 
ence. Individual energies, they cannot indeed 
supply, but they can encourage and support them. 
The part which governments have to perform, is 
not passive, but eminently active ; and if so, the 
good which they may do, is incalculable. When 
a patriot king happens to be placed at the head 
of affairs, with what reverence is he not regarded, 
and with what devotion are not his name and his 
deeds handed down to posterity? In place of 
fomenting idiot wars, and the never-ceasing strug- 
gles of political and sectarian factions, govern- 
ments should expend their utmost efforts in 
securing the good of the whole, by conforming to 
those eternal laws, whose foundation is laid in the 
constitution of our nature. It is not the well- 
being of a part, but of all, that should be attended 
to; every member of society has an indefeasible 
title to the fostering care of the collective energies 
of the people. If the rights of any be neglected, 
the results are sure to recoil upon the rest; hu- 
manity can be outraged in no particular, without 
evil consequences. Tried by this rule, few go- 
vernments will stand the test ; how rarely indeed, 
has their trust been fulfilled with faithfulness and 
impartiality? It must ever be reiterated, that 



300 ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 

they alone, can introduce a universal education, 
in which the lowest in the community may par- 
ticipate, and which shall be upon a level with 
the utmost advance of human knowledge and 
intelligence. 

Governments however, cannot do all; they 
must be urged incessantly forward, by the efforts 
of the community. Society might do much, but 
warring interests have singularly neutralized its 
powers. The latter however, will become more 
effective, with the increase of that general en- 
lightenment, which shall cause the interests of 
individuals to be identified with those of the com- 
munity. It requires little intelligence to shew, 
that there is nothing incompatible between the 
two, and that the advancement of the one, tends 
to the promotion of the other. Social zeal is not 
always well directed; it attempts the palliation 
of existing evils, without trying to eradicate them. 
With judicious arrangements, the poorest even, 
might secure an education for their children, that 
would be calculated to raise them high in the 
scale of humanity. As society becomes better 
informed, it may be presumed that this stupen- 
dous power of working good, will be cultivated 
to an extent, of which we are at present able to 
form but a feeble conception. 

IV. Every one should waken up his energies 
to the utmost, so as to do all the good in his 
power, while the brief tenure of life permits. 
Much may be effected if we will but strive : no 
one should slumber in the lap of indolence. 



ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 301 

Every one has some influence, and all that has 
ever been done, was done by individuals. We 
should reflect betimes, on the business, and on the 
end of existence — we should oppose and combat 
with all our might, irresolution, apathy, and indo- 
lence. Good must be wrought by positive efforts, 
if it is to be wrought at all; vain wishes can 
accomplish nothing. Our mental and moral 
faculties improve with exercise, to the close of our 
career ; but if we do not advance, they must ne- 
cessarily recede. The stupidity, the ignorance, 
and the imbecility, which afflict the world, are 
occasioned by ourselves. Every one has a part 
to act, if he will exert himself, and may realize 
some substantial benefit, if he will but try. All 
have a value and a usefulness, which no one 
should be permitted to trample in the dust. 

V. The mental and moral sciences, as well as 
the wonderful works of God, comprise a field of occu- 
pation and inquiry, that the most active intellect 
in vain attempts to exhaust. Such, form a noble 
culture for the heart and understanding, the very 
capability of undergoing which, proves the inde- 
scribable goodness of an almighty Providence. 
An influence the most beneficent, is thereby ex- 
ercised over our moral and intellectual develop- 
ment, while we are enabled to perform a digni- 
fied part in this world, and to prepare, it cannot 
be doubted, for the duties of the next. If intel- 
lectual science however, be inferior to moral, it 
is equally indispensable, in order to enable us to 
form a correct theory of moral science itself. 



302 ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 

And although the theory is one thing, and the 
practice another, yet the former is of advantage 
to the latter. Intellectual science in one sense, 
is the basis of morality, education, and legislation, 
which would otherwise be regulated by custom, 
prejudice, and caprice. If indeed, they have also 
a foundation in experience, it is an experience 
rectified and generalized by the observations of 
a multitude of wise and reflecting men. We see 
in the history of nations, the bungling that has 
existed in the application of these sciences, and 
the long period that has elapsed before the prin- 
ciples on which each must repose, were success- 
fully elaborated. 

The acquisition of science and art, though dif 
ficult at first, is rendered easy by practice. Their 
cultivation produces a vast facility in intellectual 
operations, and in the formation of agreeable and 
useful mental combinations. Hence it is, that 
while they are means to an end, they also con- 
stitute in themselves, an end of no inferior impor- 
tance. Thus, while the student perfects himself 
in literature, science, and art, he lays the foun- 
dation of industrious habits, and mental acumen 
— qualities in themselves, of infinite value. What 
other than wisdom supreme, could have devised 
anything so admirable? The advantages seve- 
rally arising from the culture of the sciences, are 
enormous. Nature, both organic and inorganic, 
makes us acquainted with God's works, their sin- 
gular properties, their applications to human 
wants, and the general purposes of creation, as 



ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 303 

well as with the irrefragable evidence which they 
yield, of wisdom, goodness, and power. They 
elevate the mind ; they point out arrangements 
for the reception of man upon earth, long ere his 
species found a place on it, and they demonstrate 
prospectively, the transition of his immortal na- 
ture, to a higher sphere of existence. By the 
study of God's infinite works, the heart is hu- 
manized, and the understanding elevated; while 
man is raised above the petty, yet consuming 
passions, to which his heart is subject, and juster 
conceptions of the nobility of his nature imparted. 
The arts are attended with peculiar advantages; 
they refine upon the phenomena which surround 
us, and enhance the legitimate pleasures of sense. 
The heart and understanding are purified, and 
an origin given to emotions, which we should not 
otherwise experience. And, not least, they 
strengthen the foundations of society, and lead us 
to delight in associating with our fellows. Moral 
and intellectual science however, crowns the 
whole. . By the first, we instruct ourselves in the 
foundation, and in the practice of our duties; 
form abiding conceptions of our condition here, 
and our destination hereafter, and by scrutini- 
zing the relations to which we are subjected, 
penetrate however feebly, into the intentions of 
the Deity, and conform to his will. It permits 
us to enlarge on the evidence, derived at once 
from the exercise of the heart and understanding, 
of God's infinite providence, as well as of the 
existence of the human soul, and our hopes as to 



304 ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 

its immortality. The general cultivation of this 
precious science, would lead to universal peace 
and good- will ; while it would for ever extinguish 
the hideous warfare, and the miserable clashing 
of opinions, with which mankind have so long 
been desolated. Intellectual, though less intrin- 
sically important than moral science, is indisso- 
lubly connected with it. So far as it is possible 
to become acquainted with them, it shews us the 
constitution of the human mind, and the nature 
of our faculties ; in like manner, it points out the 
origin of our knowledge, as well as of our moral 
sentiments ; and by laying down a clear analysis 
of the process, prevents the introduction, or com- 
bats the existence of false moral doctrines. It is 
also, singularly well calculated as a study, to im- 
prove the faculties, and by unfolding the opera- 
tions of the mind, affords a stupendous instance 
of that power, which we can never sufficiently 
admire. This alone, independent of other utili- 
ties, would be a sufficient reason for its universal 
cultivation. I shall only add, that our intellec- 
tual efforts should be incessantly connected with 
moral associations, and pre-eminently, with the 
wisdom, and goodness of God. Thus, the mind 
in all its varying conditions, would be kept under 
the influence of benevolence and love, and ever 
prepared for the exercise of the duties, which con- 
fer happiness and dignity in this world, and per- 
mit us to look forward with hope and trust, to 
that which is to come. 

VI. While the means of improving the mind 



ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 305 

are under consideration, it will not be out of 
place to devote a few observations to its influence 
on the passions. If these be extinguished, or 
greatly subdued, so much the worse for the un- 
derstanding, which cannot reach the vigour and 
elevation to which their well-directed impulses 
contribute. On the other hand, if the passions 
preponderate, they will go far to reduce to stormy 
confusion, powers otherwise productive of varied 
benefit. It is erroneous to enjoin their extinc- 
tion; if the Deity had not designed their useful 
instrumentality, is it possible that he would have 
permitted their existence or their operation? It 
is the misdirection of these admirable agents, 
which is alone to be reprobated. Without pas- 
sion, we should be mere automatons, retaining 
the form, but not the ennobling attributes of hu- 
manity. The influence of reason should be ab- 
solute; it ought to guide and restrain, but not 
unduly repress the passions. Thus regulated 
and directed, they yield a force and an energy, 
which it would otherwise be impossible to obtain. 
The removal of various prejudices would vastly 
facilitate the cultivation of the mind. One of 
the most remarkable of these perhaps, is that 
which would condemn the majority to almost 
utter ignorance. Great stress is laid upon laws 
and the administration of justice, but would not 
their objects be more effectually accomplished, 
among an educated, than among an ignorant and 
corrupt community? Assuredly, the virtue and 
happiness of the people — the real objects of all 

u 



306 ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE MIND. 

law, would be better secured were moral and in- 
tellectual knowledge universal. Knowledge is 
the appanage of no particular class, and should 
be free to all, as the air we breathe, or the run- 
ning stream. Objections to universal education 
do not bear a moment's examination; for will 
any one deliberately assert, that the community 
would not be the better of mental and moral cul- 
ture? The active occupations to which of ne- 
cessity, the greater number are devoted, pre- 
clude most ornamental, or elaborate branches of 
knowledge. All could not become painters, 
poets, or musicians, and excel in literature or the 
recondite sciences, but undoubtedly, all should 
acquire an accurate command over their mother 
tongue, an intimate familiarity with the princi- 
ples of moral truth, and a general acquaintance 
with physical science. It is a base prejudice, that 
would force the continuance of ignorance on any 
portion of the community; endless evils must 
flow from it, but from the dissemination of truth 
— union, peace, and happiness, without end. No 
advantages from any other source, can be com- 
pared with those which necessarily arise from 
universal mental and moral culture. Let us 
only reflect for a little, on the mass of buried 
capabilities that might be ripened into the rich- 
est display of virtue and excellence. We have 
associations for various purposes, but none for 
securing the best cultivation of heart and head 
of every member of the human family. When 
the mighty utility of such a procedure shall once 



ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE MIND. 307 

be recognized, there is every reason to believe, 
not only that mankind will exert all their ener- 
gies to accomplish it, but that no hindrance shall 
be able to check the fulfilment of its objects. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

ON THE PROGRESSIVE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE 
HUMAN MIND. 



How far the intellect is capable of advancing 
in this world, and in the next ; to what lengths it 
may attain, and what its final destination may 
prove, are problems, in the solution of which, 
every enlightened mind must take a part. As 
to its progress hereafter, we have no means of 
determining ; but we are entitled to place bound- 
less confidence in God's wisdom and truth, and 
to believe that the process which he may employ, 
will prove all-sufficient for its purposes. It is 
tolerably certain that we shall be provided with 
means of perception as efficient, if not more so, 
than any which we now possess. We are sen- 
sible that much remains behind the scene which 
we cannot know, and that we are able to investi- 
gate the phenomena which surround us, to an ex- 
tent far short of the reality. How far they may lie 
open to us hereafter, remains to be determined. 
The very existence of another world, infers that 



308 ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE MIND. 

of means of information at present wholly inac- 
cessible. May we not venture from analogy to 
presume, that there may be gradations of know- 
ledge to which we shall be successively admitted? 
The objective existence which we enjoy at present, 
may possibly be superadded to a subjective one. 
But who can say ? It has pleased the Creator that 
our reason should but dimly penetrate into the 
obscurity of the future — an arrangement doubt- 
less necessary to secure that due attention to the 
affairs of life, which could hardly subsist, had we 
been distracted by the stupendous changes of 
another world. The prospect would have been 
incompatible with earthly duties, and with the 
means of information which have been judged 
sufficient for us here ; it would have deranged the 
apparatus of life, and set aside the provisions of 
the Deity. The obscurity around us, in one sense 
is a source of instruction, inasmuch as it is bene- 
ficial to speculate upon another state of being, and 
upon our condition therein. How admirably is this 
calculated to sharpen our faculties, to purify our 
hearts, and to lead us to place unlimited trust 
in the hidden, as well as in the manifest provi- 
dence of God ? If the event had been apparent, 
these advantages would have been cut off. Even 
the cavils of those who have arrived at the un- 
happy conclusion that there is no futurity, tend 
indirectly to the accumulation of proof, and to 
stimulate inquiry. It is better perhaps, that con- 
clusions so important, should be kept before the 
attention, even by the refutation of objections, 



ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE MIND. 309 

than that they should slumber in the torpor of an 
indolent assent. Thus, it is well to turn evil into 
good, and to make the opposition of the incredu- 
lous, a means of more firmly establishing doctrines, 
so essential to the virtue and happiness of our race. 
The advance of the mind in this world, has been 
secured by countless provisions, emanating from 
the infinite wisdom and goodness of God. These 
however, are counteracted by a variety of tempo- 
rary obstacles, which militate more or less against 
the general result. As time wears on, mankind 
will doubtless, sufficiently perceive their interests, 
to enable them to secure the fullest development 
of the admirable capabilities of our common na- 
ture. The force of circumstances must eventually 
bear down all impediments, however numerous 
and formidable. Bodily wants, absent moral 
and intellectual culture, pernicious habits, and 
useless pursuits — sectarian and political animosi- 
ties, defective energy, inferior motives, bad go- 
vernments, the jealousy of the partially instructed, 
the prejudices of the rich, and the ignorance of 
the poor, operate to a vast extent, in retarding the 
progress of the mind. These defects can only be 
slowly removed, since the means most effectually 
calculated to overcome them, take for granted the 
partial existence of the qualities to be created. 
Ignorance however, though not universal, is suf- 
ficiently extant, to call for the strenuous efforts of 
the wise and good, for perhaps ages to come. 
Such is the discipline of the world ; we must take 
it as we find it, and act accordingly. If there 



310 ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE MIND. 

were no ignorance, no superstition, no tyranny, 
no blood-thirstiness — no prejudice, folly, or error, 
on earth, we should not have the merit of opposing 
them ; it is at least, some compensation, to possess 
the virtues and the moral hardihood, that must 
continue to display themselves, till the principle 
of evil shall be for ever rooted out. The univer- 
sal diffusion of knowledge and moral truth, will 
engender other virtues ; but if we are to arrive at 
the happy calm which shall ensue from the sup- 
pression of ignorance and vice, we must resolve 
to encounter the storms occasioned by their exist- 
ing prevalence. 

The operation of animal wants, sometimes im- 
proves, and sometimes degrades the mind. As- 
suredly, it is their abuse, not their mere existence, 
which has this tendency. Everything indeed, 
may be made a source of improvement, if we will 
but abide by the dictates of nature. It is true, 
that we are in some measure, intrusted to our 
own care ; that we have the privilege of making 
the most of our position, as well as of abusing it. 
This however, could not have been avoided, with- 
out taking away the power of selection, a loss that 
would have been fatal to the interests of virtue. 
The legitimate object of animal wants, is to pro- 
vide for the exigencies of our frames, and by in- 
citing us to exertion of body and mind, to operate 
as an agent of mental and moral improvement. 
If we neglect, or bestow too much attention on 
them, the fault is our own: the regulations of 
nature are not to be evaded with impunity. 



ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE MIND. 311 

Mental and moral pleasures, to be appreciated, 
must be experienced; hence, the importance of 
early culture. This is the only way by which 
the gratifications of sense can be prevented from 
gaining the ascendency. When we address our- 
selves to a sensualist, we feel mortified at the in- 
sufficiency of our exhortations, forgetting that we 
are actuated by sentiments, to which he is per- 
haps, wholly inaccessible. If there be anything 
certain in our constitution, it is, that moral and 
intellectual enlightenment is the best guarantee 
for the prevention of impurity, and the formation 
of habits of imperturbable excellence. Hence, 
the necessity of the highest culture, from the 
earliest dawn of our capabilities, so that when the 
period arrives in which temptations multiply, the 
individual will be found unassailable ; or if un- 
happily, he yield, it is only for a time, for 
his endowments cannot be lost, and they must 
eventually set him above the sovereignty of earth- 
born passions for ever. Once the delights of 
moral and intellectual excellence have been 
graven on the heart and soul, they cannot be 
obliterated. It is the glorious prerogative of 
knowledge, that with care and attention, it cannot 
be lost — it is a possession for ever, which no 
wrongs on the part of others can take away, and 
from which, death itself cannot separate us. It 
is impossible to urge too strongly, its indispensable 
utility in the formation of a superior character, 
or how amply it indemnifies us for whatever 
sorrows, sufferings, or privations, the acquisition 



312 ON DEATH. 

may have cost us. We may venture to hope, 
that the admirable individuals who have appeared 
from time to time, on the theatre of the world, 
have not exhausted the capabilities of humanity ; 
and if we may argue from the past, that there is 
a progression of virtue and excellence in store for 
us, of which the contemplation, even in advance, 
causes the heart to thrill and bound with joy. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

ON DEATH, AND ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER, 
VIEWED IN REFERENCE TO THE INTELLECT. 



Our knowledge is limited by our means, yet 
we are permitted a glimpse however imperfect, 
into the infinite arrangements of a good and wise 
God. If what we actually witness, reveals such 
splendour and perfection, what must that be, 
which exists beyond the sphere of our actual cog- 
nizance, and of which the stupendous whole, per- 
haps exceeds the comprehension of any finite 
being? It is our lot to strive on, and so to per- 
fect our intellectual and moral grasp, as to em- 
brace everything that relates to our safe conduct 
on earth. Thus, shall we realize the intention of 
existence, as well as best prepare for the higher 
range of duty and activity, involved in an ulterior 
stage of being. 



ON DEATH. 313 

The body is a scaffolding for building up heart 
and mind, against the advent of eternity, and for 
a closer intercourse with a higher grade of intel- 
ligence, than what the intervention of material 
organs enables us to maintain. Though we may 
attempt to image them forth, it is impossible to 
conceive the emotions that must actuate the feeling 
mind, when for the first time permitted to con- 
template other, and more extended manifestations 
of Divine wisdom, than those which are unfolded 
in the existing world. How much more closely 
the Deity will hold intercourse with his creatures, 
and in what manner, are problems which we 
cannot solve ; but we may perhaps suppose, that 
his manifestations will be varied, conformable to 
the capacity of those who shall be called on to 
participate in them. We are even permitted from 
earth, to witness an extent of creation so stupen- 
dous, that the whole may well be presumed ade- 
quate to form a subject of study and contemplation 
to intellects of the highest order for ever. It has 
been conjectured, that the Deity permits the sub- 
ordinate direction of different tracts of creation. 
We can hardly conceive a more extended scope 
for the exercise of energies the most exalted ; but, 
however probable the supposition, it is one which 
we can have no means of verifying. 

The contemplation of death is an instructive 
one. Even to our limited perceptions, this change 
seems pregnant with multitudinous advantages. 
It clears away prejudice along with its upholders ; 
and though some is still transmitted, it is with a 



314 ON DEATH. 

diminished grasp. The revelations of another 
world, will doubtless, prove too much for the most 
obstinate adherents of error; the truth which 
shall then shine forth, cannot be subverted by any 
previous conclusions. It behoves us to think 
rightly if we can ; but whether we do, or do not, 
we may feel the unlimited assurance, that the fu- 
ture must still remain the same. That the phe- 
nomena of an hereafter, should accord in some 
measure with our conceptions, would be a satis- 
faction; they must at any rate, be sufficiently 
striking to rectify every false anticipation. All 
who are conversant with human nature are aware, 
that prejudices often cling with such tenacity, 
that nothing save the hand of death, seems ade- 
quate to overturn them. The condition of society 
is such, that when the mind has once contracted 
an undue bias, it too often becomes closed to every 
other avenue of inquiry; so that there is neither 
motive nor ability to undertake the task. Con- 
sideration, wealth, station, and all the advantages 
of conformity, are found to preponderate, when 
weighed against ignominy, poverty, and the naked, 
albeit priceless rewards of truth. The satisfac- 
tion accruing from the latter, affords an ample 
recompense to many; but it is true, that the 
greater number prefer that which is found in the 
beaten track. Repugnance towards dissent, ap- 
pears from the multitudes that are silent, to the 
infinite detriment of rational investigation, who 
have yet had sufficient strength of motive to in- 
stitute inquiry — to seek for truth, but not to pro- 



ON DEATH. 315 

claim the discovery. Death however, will remove 
every incentive that hypocrites or false professors 
may experience, for declaring what they do not 
believe. There will be no risk of persecution, or 
failure of security hereafter ; nor shall sordid mo- 
tives, or efforts at deception, prove of any avail. 
The sincere votary of error will be disabused, 
and though the long-loved delusion must be cast 
away, any regret that he may experience, will be 
allayed by the reception of unalloyed truth. This 
must be the aspiration of all ; and however much 
we may desire not to prove in error, our next 
best wish will be that of having it eventually rec- 
tified, if not in this world, at least in the next. 
Independent of these results, death makes way 
for the unprejudiced. All enjoy the instruction 
of nature, and to the truths already admitted, add 
those which are continually suggested. Thus, 
notwithstanding all partial lapses, the march of 
mankind is ever onward, and each succeeding 
generation is on the whole, wiser and better than 
that which preceded it. Death removes all error 
and prejudice, along with the advocates of such; 
and though race after race die away, consigning 
more or less of the former to oblivion, knowledge 
and truth are not lost, but go on, ever increasing, 
and involving more and more of the family of 
mankind. Death lifts up the curtain, beyond 
whose ample folds no mortal eye has ever pene- 
trated; it reveals the hidden secrets of futurity, 
and ushers us into a condition, replete with other 
duties, and more extended aspirations, where the 



316 ON DEATH. 

phantoms with which the falsely-named king of 
terrors has been surrounded, shall vanish for 
evermore. 

A question of apparent difficulty is sometimes 
asked — whence the destruction of so many in 
earliest youth? The mortality among children 
is owing to the irregular lives, and defective con- 
stitutions of parents, and to the misery, disease, 
and destitution, consequent on the imperfect con- 
stitution of society. Mankind are left to their 
care and forethought in this particular, as in every 
other; if they will think and act providently and 
wisely, they may also escape this calamity. It 
was necessary to leave us to our own delibera- 
tion and choice ; if the desired event had been 
otherwise secured, it could not be attended 
with the advantages that flow from human skill 
and human forethought. The blessings of exis- 
tence must be earned before they can be enjoyed; 
and Supreme intelligence has so ordered it, that 
the cultivation of the means, bestows a happiness 
equal or superior to that which flows from the 
realization of the end. O divine — O wonderful 
provision — what language, what words can we 
employ, that will adequately express the wisdom 
and goodness of God ! As for the intelligence of 
the babe that perishes ere it has seen the light, 
and that of the child who dies in early infancy, 
we can rely with full security on Supreme wisdom, 
that every arrangement will be made for the best. 
Doubtless, the Providence which never sleeps, 
attends to this also, and has appointed those who 



ON DEATH. 317 

will care for the undeveloped soul. But these 
are points into which we cannot enter ; the wisest 
must be at fault as to particulars, whose intricacy 
no living sagacity can resolve. 

The spiritual world is more extended than the 
material. Though the hosts of stars should per- 
vade infinity, with every diversity of form and 
production, they must still be out-numbered by 
the multitude and variety of spiritual exist- 
ences. It is likely that these display a range 
utterly inconceivable to our faculties. We wit- 
ness in this world a vast variety from the smallest 
insect up to man; but that which is involved in 
the circle of our experience, is limited indeed, 
compared with the mighty whole. It is probable 
that there are beings whose powers transcend 
those of mortal man, much more than man him- 
self, does the lowest of creation. Progression is 
the inevitable characteristic of intelligence, wher- 
ever it may be placed; and it is impossible that 
the lapse of countless time, should not have elimi- 
nated an inconceivable degree of knowledge and 
capacity, among the innumerable hosts of the 
creatures of God. It may appear a contra- 
diction to say that one infinity exceeds an- 
other; that the infinity of thinking beings ex- 
ceeds the infinity of created worlds, but it is 
poverty of language that makes it seem so. The 
multitude of worlds must of necessity, be exceeded 
by the endless succession of living beings, that 
appear and disappear on the surface of each. If 
the stars be the abode of intellect, as we have the 



318 ON DEATH. 

strongest grounds for believing, and if its vehicles 
succeed each other continually as on earth, it 
tends to give us a glimmering idea of the spiritual 
universe. If indeed, there be gradations in each, 
and if all become denizens of the realms of im- 
mortality, it enhances still more our faint con- 
ceptions of their vast extent. There is nothing 
in numbers to heighten the difficulties, which 
attend the realization of this immensity of exis- 
tence. The power of God is equal, over many 
as over few; he can as easily prolong our being 
throughout an eternity, as during the brief period 
of earthly life, and he can advance any degree 
of intelligence indefinitely onward. All desirable 
and possible things are equally practicable to the 
Almighty; and we have an assurance which no- 
thing can diminish, that his benevolence is com- 
mensurate with his power. It is indeed, our 
duty to think of that hereafter to which all 
are hurrying. We can anticipate nothing with 
certainty, but we are not incapable of approxi- 
mating, however feebly, to the truth; and if in 
trying to do so, we exercise discretion and mode- 
ration, our efforts to penetrate through the dim 
and distant future, will not be unattended with 
advantage. Speculation thus guarded, is no 
more reprehensible in mental, than in physical 
science; the conclusions which it furnishes, are 
less satisfactory than certainty itself, but they 
constitute a desirable supplement to the little 
which we already know. 



ON DEATH. 319 

The second part of this undertaking has now 
been completed. The nature and operations of 
the human intellect, the uses of language, the in- 
fluence of circumstances, the physiology, regula- 
tion, and best means of improving the mind, its 
progressive perfectibility, and its relation to the 
final change called death, have been severally 
dwelt upon ; it now remains to complete the third 
portion, which is to include the origin, nature, 
and relations, of our feelings, affections, and moral 
judgments. 



END OF PART IT. 



PART III. 

HUMAN NATURE IN ITS MORAL RELATIONS. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

ON THE FEELINGS, PASSIONS, AFFECTIONS, MORAL 
JUDGMENTS, AND THEIR ORIGIN. 



1. Numerous and serious as the errors in other 
matters have been, those on moral points are 
still more so. The praises which we lavish on 
truth, are peculiarly applicable to moral truth; 
for if a knowledge of external nature be useful 
and desirable, how much so is that which ac- 
quaints us with ourselves, and which instructs us 
in the foundation of our duties to our fellowmen 
and to our Creator? An acquaintance with the 
principles of morality was early created by the 
occurrences of life, but the theory has been of 
very slow acquirement. Up to a recent period, 
the physical sciences were attacked with occa- 
sional bitterness ; they have nowhowever,achieved 
their independence, and all, geology not excepted, 
may be cultivated to the utmost, without hin- 
drance or molestation. Moral science enjoys no 

x 



3*22 ON THE FEELINGS. 

such exemption ; and though the amount of tole- 
ration be considerably increased, it still remains 
in some measure, in bondage and leading strings. 
Opposition however, may storm, prejudice and 
error may scorn the proffered boon, yet mo- 
ral science must eventually surmount every ob- 
stacle, while its universal diffusion will prove as 
great a blessing to mankind, as its absence 
hitherto, has been an evil and a curse. 

Our mental emotions — the pleasures and pains 
of which our minds are susceptible, are derived 
in the first instance, from sensations of pleasure 
and pain ; just as our ideas not pleasurable or 
painful, spring from sensations originally neither. 
The term idea, is confined to remembered sen- 
sations not pleasurable or painful — and emotion, 
to remembered sensations that are pleasurable or 
painful. As ideas are derived from sensa- 
tions direct or transmitted, so emotions them- 
selves, may be direct or transmitted. In the 
latter case, there must be some prototype; in 
other words, the elements must be previously 
experienced. By these means, a few primary 
feelings are multiplied into diversified forms 
of splendour and beauty, raising man high above 
the intellectual, and almost infinitely above the 
animal part of his nature. Thus, the emotions 
which are formed in our own breasts, and in those 
of others, are reciprocated; and when we think 
or feel, we think and feel for others also. The 
feelings in no case, any more than the ideas, are 
innate. Education, and moral instruction, pro- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 323 

ceed upon the supposition that truth is commu- 
nicable. When man comes into the world, he is 
destitute of all knowledge, and of every tendency 
whether towards good or evil. All are equally 
ignorant and equally innocent ; while the mind and 
heart like a table of pure white wax, are at the 
mercy of occurrences for the impressions that are 
made upon them. All may be trained alike, to 
virtue or vice, knowledge or ignorance. The 
character of man hitherto, now, and for the future, 
whether as regards the heart or the understan- 
ding, has depended, and ever must depend, on the 
operation of external circumstances, combined 
with his own exertions. Material organization 
however, bodily health, and the greater or less 
perfection of the senses, modify the impressions 
that are made. But the operation of such causes, 
except where the senses are so depraved as to 
lead to inevitable idiotcy, or a condition approxi- 
mating to it, may be obviated. As to the con- 
formation of the mind itself, we have no means 
of coming to any conclusion, whether negative or 
affirmative. By the moral man, we understand 
the intellectual judgments, and the various pre- 
occupations for or against, on the subject of good 
and evil. These are singularly fortified by their 
connexion with vivid affections; and though it 
would be improper to say that a coldly moral 
man might not be a virtuous one, he would ne- 
vertheless, be destitute of that devout enthusiasm 
in behalf of virtue, by which it is so powerfully 
strengthened, and by which it effects an ever- 



324 ON THE FEELINGS. 

lasting abode in the human breast. I do not 
mean however, in this place, to dilate on the ad- 
vantages and necessity of this sacred union, so 
much as to signalize its existence, and to shew 
that the moral man — the man within the breast, 
is a compound of intellectual judgments and 
affections. It is hardly necessary to state se- 
riously, that the feelings and affections are but 
forms of consciousness, of one and the same sub- 
stance, with whose seat and nature we are wholly 
ignorant. No one acquainted with the physiology 
of the mind, would refer the latter to the brain, in- 
asmuch as body and outward objects respectively, 
are but forms of consciousness, provoked indeed, 
by some unknown exterior cause. To affirm that 
the mind dwells in what, in one sense, is a form 
of its own consciousness, or in the brain namely, 
is to assert a contradiction and an incongruity. 
Briefly then, when we say the heart, we mean the 
mind in that condition which we call feeling, 
affection, passion, and virtue itself, so far as the 
feelings are concerned. 

There is not within the compass of Divine pro- 
vidence, a more striking instance of stupendous 
wisdom, and beautiful adaptation, than the for- 
mation of mental pleasures and pains, from 
a comparatively small number of primary sensa- 
tions. It is not surprising that the early inqui- 
rers into this interesting subject, when they 
reflected on the diversity of our emotions, should 
have found it difficult to refer them to their real 
source. That our different feelings should spring 



ON THE FEELINGS. 325 

from a few primary corporeal conditions of plea- 
sure and pain, is a circumstance so wonderful, 
as to demonstrate its origin from the power by 
which means are adapted to ends, with an effi- 
ciency and a certainty, that leave nothing to be 
desired. Agreeable sensations give rise to pleasu- 
rable, and painful sensations, to painful intellectual 
emotions. Mixed feelings are afterwards gene- 
rated by association. To this is also to be 
ascribed the countless hosts of mental pleasures, 
and mental pains, to which so much of the hap- 
piness and the misery that chequer our mortal 
career are owing. Pleasures and pains as derived 
from organic sources, so far as variety is con- 
cerned, are not very numerous; but they are 
sufficiently so, if we regard the frequency of 
their repetition, and their different degrees of in- 
tensity. The remembrance of organic pleasures 
and pains is productive of equivalent mental emo- 
tions. We may however, recal collateral cir- 
cumstances — the time, the occasion, the agent, 
the cause, and the consequences, alone. Thus, 
the recollection of these is one thing, and that of 
the pleasure or pain itself, whether direct or 
transmitted, another. The mental pleasures and 
pains are under the regulation of laws peculiar to 
themselves, and cannot be renewed or dwelt upon, 
except in subordination to these. 

2. Some organic phenomena are styled appe- 
tites, to the exclusion of others ; yet the desire of 
sleep, rest, warmth, and breathing, respectively, 
is not less an appetite, than are those which re- 



326 ON THE FEELINGS. 

lute to food, drink, and sex. The corporeal 
feelings that precede the performance of any 
organic act, are appetites, the one as much so as 
the other. Thus, the desire of exercising the 
different senses, is an appetite ; while the exercise 
of each, is the gratification of an appetite. It is 
a name, not only for the desire which precedes 
the act, but also for the act itself. The animal 
feeling called desire, is a pleasure ; if not attended 
to, or if gratified to excess, it merges into pain. 
Hunger, for example, within certain limits, is 
agreeable, while its gratification, and the after 
feelings, are so likewise; privation however, on 
the one hand, and excess on the other, entail 
suffering. Genial warmth, rest after fatigue, 
and exercise in the open air, are sources of sen- 
sations the most exhilarating. When the func- 
tions are properly attended to, and performed 
with ease and regularity, they return a variety of 
pleasing sensations, on which we bestow the col- 
lective term, good health. Those however, in ill 
or delicate health, are not debarred from such 
sensations, to an extent more than adequate to 
produce kindred mental emotions. It requires 
moral energy indeed, to combat the deteriorating 
influence of prolonged suffering; hence, those 
whose hearts and minds have not been sufficiently 
cultivated, are apt to become fretful and ill-tem- 
pered, under pain and sickness; while on the 
contrary, high-minded individuals bear the as- 
saults of both, with firmness and equanimity. 
The affections and feelings must be specially cul- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 327 

tivated, otherwise no amount of mere bodily plea- 
sure, much less intellectual cultivation, will suffice 
to elicit them. A rustic, w T hose vigorous organi- 
zation enables him to enjoy every corporeal plea- 
sure with the keenest relish, may yet, from the 
absence of all training, as to the intellect and 
affections, be nearly as destitute of feeling and 
moral perception, as the beast in the fields. The 
same is true in part, of the voluptuary and the 
fanatical ascetic. Without proper training, the 
feelings and affections are continually liable to 
err, if not to remain wholly dormant. 

There are numerous anomalous sensations 
which it would be difficult to refer to any definite 
origin. Who for example, has not experienced 
the transient thrills which seem to pervade the 
whole frame? The senses are rarely exercised 
singly, consequently, the pleasures accruing from 
their action, are increased by combination. An- 
other powerful addition to the gratifications which 
they afford, is their association with feelings and 
ideas. Some of our corporeal pleasures begin at 
an early period, others not till afterwards ; some 
persist through life, while a few cease before the 
term of our mortality. Sensual and defective at 
first, they lay the foundation of those exquisite 
forms of mental consciousness, which constitute 
so large a portion of our joy and happiness, as 
well as of those exalted and purely disinterested 
conditions, which invest humanity with its great- 
est charm. Selfish and animal, they begin indeed, 
and selfish and animal they remain, in minds 



328 ON THE FEELINGS. 

that are destitute of moral and intellectual cul- 
ture. Thus, we perceive that every energy is 
necessary, to make the most of the admirable 
capabilities which have been so bountifully ac- 
corded to us all. 

The simple consciousness of existence, did men 
live naturally, and avoid inordinate stimuli, would 
be ever pleasing. When the animal feelings are 
blunted by irregularity or excess however, there 
arises a morbid craving after exciting agents. 
Excessive hunger or thirst, induces the severest 
agony, until relieved by food, or the hand of 
death. Privation of sleep and rest, is highly dis- 
tressing. Unnatural denial with regard to any 
of the appetites; also, blows, bruises, hurts, 
wounds, heat, or cold, impeded respiration, and 
the exercise of injurious agents generally, occa- 
sion much suffering. Indigestion, nightmare, and 
the various forms of disease, are productive of 
greater or less uneasiness. Thus, functions and 
organs that return no appreciable sensations in 
health, become sources of pain during disease. 
Mental pain has a tendency analogous to that of 
corporeal; it occasions injurious states of mind 
to become disagreeable. Bodily sufferings are 
the source of mental. This is effected by their 
simple remembrance, and by their adhesion to 
our different ideas and intellectual emotions. 
Painful, any more than pleasing associations, can- 
not be transferred, without the pre-existence of 
their elementary or complex forms, in the mind 
in which they are awakened. 



ON THE FEELINGS. 329 

The pleasures and pains of sense are incapa- 
ble of indefinite prolongation. The same organs 
— at least the involuntary ones, cannot return an 
incessant tissue of agreeable sensations. If the 
pleasure-giving powers of the organs be taxed to 
excess, pain, not pleasure, is the result ; plainly 
enough shewing, that the gratification of appetite 
is not intended to occupy our continual attention. 
Unless when stimulated by licentious indulgence, 
or an unbridled imagination, they are quickly 
satiated, and all desire is extinguished. The vo- 
luptuary vainly attempts excesses that nature 
never contemplated, and which she cannot sanc- 
tion. Were mental and moral culture universal, 
such infractions would never be attempted. As 
to pain, if it be intense and of long duration, the 
organs quickly cease to experience it; a tempo- 
rary suspension of perception, and even death 
itself, take place. Tyranny and superstition 
were careful to regulate their dreadful inflictions 
by this rule; and medical science has been de- 
graded in order to determine the powers of the 
victim. Pain from disease is seldom conti- 
nuous; the most violent even, has its periods of 
remission, which yield a breathing time, and pre- 
pare the strength and spirits for farther trials. 

3. Our feelings as they spring up, may be 
associated with each other, with animate and in- 
animate objects, and with ideas. They may be 
connected with conventional signs, awakened by 
oratory, the exercise of the arts, or the daily 
events of life. Feelings are associated with our 



330 ON THE FEELINGS. 

fellow-creatures in the order of their proximity, 
and to a still less extent, with inferior objects. 
Emotions of pleasure and pain arise from analo- 
gous sensations ; selfish in the first instance, and 
disinterested in the last. Once imbibed, they 
may be associated with each other, and with ideas, 
in combinations without end. They may also 
be transferred to other individuals, and from 
others to us; a translation however, which pre- 
supposes the existence of their elements in the 
breast of the receiver. Associated with our mo- 
ral judgments, they accumulate to such an extent, 
and acquire such an intensity, as to become 
perhaps as great an incentive to the pursuit of 
excellence, as the end which that pursuit has 
in view. Thus, by a magnificent adaptation of 
Providence, ever working for our good, means 
and end are identified, and the result is secured 
with redoubled certainty. To this is owing that 
much disputed, but most certain condition, which 
bears the name of disinterestedness. The pro- 
pagation of feeling from breast to breast, through 
the medium of books, and personal intercourse, is 
a happy circumstance. We are thus assured that 
its cultivation, not less than that of knowledge 
itself, redounds not only to our own advantage, 
but to that of all with whom we come in contact; 
and that virtuous, generous, and exalted emotions, 
will often and often prove sources of happiness, 
long after the bosom which emanated them, has 
grown cold. 

The child comes into the world without know- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 331 

ledge or feeling, virtue or vice. He is quickly 
sensible of hunger and satiety, heat and cold, as 
well as of the desire to rest and sleep. He is 
conscious of the grateful sensations which flow 
from the healthy performance of the different 
functions, and of pain from disease. The exer- 
cise of his senses also, proves a source of plea- 
sure. His tender frame however, is incapable of 
much exertion, and his life for a time, is divided 
between food and rest. As he gets older, his 
senses become more experienced; he observes 
and remembers. His mother engages his great- 
est attention ; he is fed from her bosom, and fos- 
tered by her care ; she consequently, proves the 
object of his earliest affections. This is obvious; 
the mother is the instrument of all the pleasures 
which he enjoys, and he connects her with their 
recollection. By and by, he commences a more 
extended existence ; he comes to know his father, 
his sisters, his brothers, and all who approach 
him. They form the objects of successive asso- 
ciations, in the ratio of their agency in causing 
pleasure and pain, or as they awaken feelings 
already stored in his memory. In the one case, 
they will be loved, in the other, feared or dis- 
liked. As the child grows up, he assumes a more 
active position ; he moves from place to place ; 
he mixes with different companions, and becomes 
the origin, and the receptacle of a variety of feel- 
ings. The complexion of these, will be regulated 
by the manner in which he is trained, and the 
care which has been taken to exclude what is 



332 ON THE FEELINGS. 

evil, and to secure what is good. Thus, the 
affections and the passions of his early years, 
will be feeble or energetic, well directed or ill. 
As he approaches manhood, new feelings pervade 
his heart, and the love of sex, paramount in its 
impulses, and of long duration, becomes fully 
lighted up. He enters into the turmoil of life, 
and comports himself according to his knowledge, 
his feelings, his habits, and the varying circum- 
stances in which he is placed. He becomes a 
husband and a parent ; powerful affections rivet 
him to wife and child, to friends and fellow- 
creatures. The love of God, and the knowledge 
of his providence, may be early experienced; 
but it is in adult life, that we are best able to 
feel the one, and to appreciate the other. This, 
likewise, is the period, during which, the arts and 
sciences, as well as every branch of human know- 
ledge, are cultivated with the greatest fruit, and 
in which, a due preparation is made for eternity. 
To obtain these advantages to the fullest extent, 
the best intellectual and moral instruction, from 
the earliest dawn of feeling and intellect, is in- 
volved. As age advances, the more violent pas- 
sions are assuaged, while the intellect becomes 
purer and less clouded ; there is a deeper love of 
offspring and of mankind, and a more exalted 
veneration for the Almighty; but the mind, ever 
and anon, looks forward to its everlasting home, 
and to the more perfect satisfactions of that 
spiritual world, for the coming of which, the 
anxieties, the troubles, and the perplexities of 



ON THE FEELINGS. 333 

life, no less than those higher aspirations, and not 
to be satisfied longings of the heart and under- 
standing, tend to prepare the way. And when 
death at length arrives, the pure-hearted and 
high-minded man resigns his mortal existence, 
with a satisfaction chequered indeed, by the mo- 
mentary sundering of earthly ties, yet akin to the 
feelings with which an infant rests, securely 
trusting in the unspeakable wisdom and good- 
ness, and in the never-sleeping providence of God. 
I. Our feelings are never wholly simple. Each 
connects us with living beings, our various pur- 
suits, and the phenomena of nature. Our affec- 
tions however, unite us most closely; and first 
of these, parental love. An admirable introduc- 
tion to the love of offspring, is formed by the de- 
voted reciprocity which subsists between the sexes. 
The position of females in society, their compa- 
rative isolation from the active business of life, and 
perhaps, their peculiar organization, render them 
more susceptible of tender emotions. Even 
child-bearing, its duration, dangers, and suffer- 
ings, add to the intensity of maternal love. The 
act of nourishing her baby — a highly pleasurable 
one to the mother, is calculated to awaken emo- 
tions the most glowing; while the protracted 
period of childhood, requires a multitude of at- 
tentions, all productive of feelings well calculated 
to ensure their repetition and permanency. No 
fond parent can perform a single office about her 
child, that will not cause thousands of such feel- 
ings to spring from her heart ; even the anxieties 



334 ON THE FEELINGS. 

and cares which her situation entails, are sources 
of fresh affection. She watches by her child; 
she sympathizes in its sufferings with an earnest- 
ness, which a mother alone can experience ; and 
if it live, or if it die, her bosom equally throbs 
with a delirium of grief or joy. The father's 
affection is less at first ; his love for his partner 
however, is transferred to his child, and by de- 
grees, the latter appeals to all the feelings which 
have any place in his heart. He is elated with its 
growing intelligence, and with the different marks 
of its affection. It becomes in a degree, his 
companion, and the object of his anxious solici- 
tude. By a beneficent Providence, all the marks 
of care and affection which he bestows, awaken 
feelings that grow stronger with time, and the 
evidence of which, death alone can suppress. 
Thus, nature has balanced the affection of the 
parents ; and if a mother's love be better nur- 
tured in the infancy of her offspring, that of the 
father is more strongly developed afterwards. 
Once created, neither can be extinguished, but 
form the elements of the extended affections, 
which bloom for ever in the regions of eternity. 
Everything that purines the heart, elevates the 
intellect, and creates a reverence for the duties 
of life, adds to the perfection of parental love. 
It is no blind feeling springing up spontaneously 
in the heart; the appliances which have been 
furnished for its production, require cultivation. 
Collateral influences may be daily witnessed, in 
the pure and deep affection of a tender, an en- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 335 

lightened, and a highly moral parent, as well as 
in the indifference of the ignorant, the dissipated, 
and the unfeeling. The priceless affections of 
parentage, to be fully possessed, must be secured 
by heart worship at the shrine of truth and moral 
excellence. Thus, feeling, virtue, and know- 
ledge, add to, and enhance each other; and by a 
precious adaptation of means to ends, the dif- 
ferent feelings of our nature are respectively 
heightened by the cultivation of all. 

II. Of all others, filial love is first created. 
The animal pleasures of early life are both nu- 
merous and intense. With what delight does 
not the child consume its food, play, sleep, and 
drink in the glowing sensations from every open- 
ing scene of existence ? Nature is wise as she is 
good — the pleasures of childhood, independent of 
the direct gratification which they afford, lay a 
foundation not only for filial love, but for the dif- 
ferent affections of adult life, and more especially, 
for that precious feeling towards the Author of 
good, which transcends all others. The inces- 
sant repetition of the kind offices of parents, the 
endearing accents and the affectionate caress, 
recal each moment, the memory of preceding 
kindness. Nature's means are ever adequate to 
the end ; agreeable sensations perhaps, are not al- 
ways recollected, but they are so, to an extent more 
than sufficient to create those emotions of which 
it is the happiness of our lives to be conscious. 
If there be excessive, or ill-timed severity; if 
children witness the daily spectacle of vice, 



336 ON THE FEELINGS. 

cruelty, misery, and strife, how can the gentle 
feelings thus counteracted, spring up in their 
bosoms? One might as well seek the dew of 
heaven in the cold and dreary mine, or the pur- 
ple grape in the arid desert. If wisdom and 
tender love, guided by firmness, and a never- 
ceasing desire to cultivate the heart and intellect, 
characterize the conduct of the parent, we shall 
witness in the child that filial affection, pure, deep, 
and inextinguishable, which is only inferior to 
that which is borne to the Creator and Father of 
all. The feelings should not be left to the mercy 
of accident, but practically cultivated by every 
means that sedulous attention can secure. This 
is the law of our being — if our affections and 
moral powers are not expressly attended to, 
neither will they be developed. If however, 
this has been done, a devotedness so pure 
and disinterested ensues, that it is willing, as a 
thousand instances prove, to incur every privation 
for the good of its object. Each of the affections 
paves the way for the rest, and the child who 
dearly loves the author of its being, will become 
the best partner and the fondest parent. 

III. The causes productive of filial, are like- 
wise so of fraternal love. Intercourse between 
children of one family, and a participation in the 
same enjoyments and endearments, necessarily 
engender the strongest mutual affection. Much 
will depend on judicious arrangements, by which 
the operations of nature are left unimpeded, and 
the unhappy rivalries which prejudice the peace 



ON THE FEELINGS. 33? 

of families are prevented. The precious relation 
of brother and sister, will be promoted by the 
rational and practical enforcement of the different 
duties; while the same means which stifle the 
other affections, will be equally effectual in blight- 
ing this. There is something inexpressibly de- 
lightful in these pure and well-ordered affections ; 
others may surpass them in intensity, but none 
in calm, abiding fulness. The love of those born 
of the same mother, prepares us for reciprocating 
with the larger family of mankind, and with the 
countless hosts of spiritual existences who are to 
prove our brethren hereafter. 

I. Any of the feelings, but above all, the love 
of sex, may assume an all-absorbing intensity. 
The remaining ties of life, numerous and impor- 
tant though they be, produce no affection equal 
to this — no relation is so close, none so binding, 
and none so enduring. All the early affections 
prepare the way for it, and every moral and in- 
tellectual endowment tends to heighten it. Hu- 
man beings are to each other the sources of the 
greatest felicity which they are capable of enjoy- 
ing, while the love of sex adds additional attrac- 
tions to all the ordinary relations of life. Man- 
kind are capable of conferring infinite happiness 
on each other; but the tender and rational in- 
tercourse of men and women, furnishes larger 
means of promoting it, than any ordinary com- 
munion between members of the same sex. Na- 
ture prepares us for this passion from the first, 
but she wisely prevents its development until the 



338 ON THE FEELINGS. 

powers of body and mind are sufficient for the 
demands which the anxieties of life, and the care 
of providing for a family, exact. When this pe- 
riod arrives, new desires spring up, and new im- 
pulses are called into being. The permanence 
of our race must be secured, and the sexes accor- 
dingly, have been connected by the strongest, and 
most lasting ties. The love of sex, deep and 
powerful though it be, rarely amounts to passion, 
unless through the hindrances to which accident, 
or the constitution of society, gives origin. It will 
then, unless stemmed by the strongest efforts, 
rise to an overwhelming height, and no impedi- 
ments, and no sacrifices with which it is possible 
for human nature to contend, will be too great to 
surmount, or to endure. No pen could trace the 
miseries of which this passion has been the source, 
when insuperable obstacles have stood in the way 
of virtue, or reckless desire ; death, and unhappi- 
ness, ending only with life, are ordinary results. 
Virtuous and reciprocated love yields a charm, 
which no other affection can so generally confer. 
What spectacle is more replete with dignity, sub- 
limity, and interest, than the tender mother and 
devoted wife, or the manly father and fond hus- 
band? The mutual dependence and affectionate 
intercourse of husband and wife, daily strengthen 
the ties that subsist between them. Their off- 
spring, no less than the good fortune which they 
enjoy in common, and the evils which they have 
been forced to endure, cement their union. If 
happy in their children, it is a happiness which 



ON THE FEELINGS. 339 

is shared by both ; but if these are taken away, 
they yield a consolation to each other, which no 
other living beings could furnish. Thus, loving 
and loved, they pursue* their earthly career, kind 
Providence gently preparing them for an exist- 
ence, wherein the bonds of deep affection are sub- 
ject to no disseverment. It is much to be 
regretted, that deeper and more earnest convic- 
tions, as to the duties incident to the married 
state, and of the qualifications which it demands, 
are not earlier instilled. No earthly relation in- 
volves so many trying positions, or demands so 
uniformly, the exercise of fortitude, energy, and 
high moral principle. The education of men and 
women, but of young women in particular, in 
every class of society, is infinitely inferior to what 
the exigencies of after life demand. Moral cul- 
tivation, and the just direction of the affections, 
are too much neglected in both ; but the intellec- 
tual education of women is of the most inferior 
description. The sexes equally require heart 
and head cultivation of the most elevated descrip- 
tion; and until this is secured, we shall look in 
vain for the beneficent influence which they are 
mutually, so well calculated to exert. If they 
regard each other with eyes unchastened by those 
exalted feelings, and intellectual acquirements, 
which all should possess; if either contemplate 
the other in a purely sensual light, or hope to 
recommend itself, by the agency of mere exter- 
nals, human nature is in so far degraded, and 
abandons her position. Personal advantages are 



340 ON THE FEELINGS. 

not to be disregarded, but assuredly, they should 
be held subordinate to the superior graces of the 
heart and intellect, without which, beauty and 
accomplishment, are but higher grades of mere- 
triciousness. If young persons could only know 
how much more lasting, and how much more dig- 
nified, the intercourse of affection becomes, when 
sanctified by moral purity and intellectual cul- 
ture, they would strain every nerve to secure 
both. Much of the deepest and most lasting 
happiness that earth affords, is realized in the 
wedded intercourse of persons thus endowed; 
and were the spectacle more general, the world 
would display a degree of well-being unfortu- 
nately too rare. 

V. Friendship is good-will towards another; 
philanthropy is the same in kind, but different in 
degree. The former involves more or less mu- 
tual approbation and affection ; some community 
of sentiment and opinion, and a reciprocity of 
good offices. Friendship may subsist between 
the young and the old; between persons of dif- 
ferent sexes, and every diversity of habit, tem- 
per, and disposition. The friendship of men 
of fraud and violence ; of the wise and good, and 
of the ignorant and superstitious, presents very 
different features. As sympathy is the common 
bond, so the cold-hearted can rarely experience, 
or inspire it. Highly enlightened and sensitive 
natures are prone to universal philanthrophy ; 
they do not however, meet those qualities every- 
where, that would call forth friendship. Danger 



ON THE FEELINGS. 341 

and calamity, shared in common, draw hearts to- 
gether; how many of the most lasting attach- 
ments have been formed on the stormy ocean, in 
the political arena, and on the battle field? 
Exalted and disinterested friendship is the source 
of singular pleasure. Men of elevated senti- 
ments are capable of the greatest heights of this 
noble passion ; for if not based on morality, it 
must be of an inferior stamp. Whatever may be 
said, friendship is not common; the cultivation 
of the heart and understanding that leads to it, 
does not sufficiently abound. We should not 
dignify with this title, the maudlin reciprocity of 
the wine-cup, or the sordid intercourse of mutual 
convenience. Most are so engaged with their 
individual welfare, that they have neither time 
nor inclination for the higher interests of the 
heart and understanding. People are equally 
indisposed to receive, or to tender favours; sus- 
picion repels the one, and selfishness opposes the 
other. The imperfect sympathies of political or 
sectarian partisans, can hardly be styled friend- 
ship ; the scope is too limited to lead to such a 
result. Nevertheless, we do not conciliate the 
good will of others as we might ; we expect good 
offices before they have been earned. The 
heart is too much wrapt up in itself to permit the 
sacrifices that create friends; we require favours 
in return for trifles, and are disappointed if we 
do not receive them. If we could but know how 
precious it is to give, whether we receive or not, 
we should be amply satisfied. Happily, the con- 



342 ON THE FEELINGS. 

stitution of human nature is such, that we cannot 
be habitually beneficent, without reaping the re- 
ward even in kind. I have spoken of philan- 
thropy: it is a blessed feeling, and founded on 
the better qualities of our nature. After our 
domestic and social affections have been satisfied, 
it is wise and good to gratify our aspirations with 
regard to the moral and intellectual welfare of 
mankind. It is a spurious feeling, that would re- 
strict the gifts of Providence to one's own family 
or country, to the prejudice of the rest of the 
world. The best natures will be well disposed 
to all, without impeachment to the claims that 
are nearest and dearest to the heart. Few feel- 
ings acquire greater strength or disinterestedness 
than philanthropy. When the patriot, to serve 
his country, or the philanthropist to promote the 
interests of mankind, incurs a voluntary death, 
each respectively, is actuated by a feeling that 
sets him above present sufferings, and enables 
him to enact a sacrifice at the shrine of virtue, of 
which he would otherwise be incapable. Friend- 
ship, patriotism, and philanthropy, may become 
equally disinterested; and the sentiments which 
constitute their better portion, whether directed 
to an individual, a community, or humanity at 
large, do equal honour to our race. 

VI. Among the superior affections is the love 
of truth. In the virtuous and enlightened, it is 
no less decided, and no less disinterested, than 
any with which we are acquainted. Such are 
fully aware of the inestimable value — the surpas- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 343 

sing importance of truth. Their best feelings 
are indissolubly connected with it ; they love it 
with a fervour that nothing can abate, and they 
are willing, if its interests demand, to tender for- 
tune and life itself, in the cause. The origin of 
this passion is complicated, but easily intelligible. 
Every observer must have noticed a multitude of 
instances in which conformity to the laws of na- 
ture — in other words, to truth, has promoted 
happiness; hence, the irresistible inference, that 
truth is infinitely beneficial, and indissolubly con- 
nected with the best interests of mankind. In 
those cases in which it ceases for a moment, to 
wear this aspect, it is to be ascribed to defective 
institutions, oftentimes but poorly in accordance 
with its dictates. Seeing these things, the lover 
of truth must be devoted to it, in the ratio of the 
knowledge which stores his mind, and the virtue 
which fills his heart. History indeed, displays 
examples of remarkable constancy in behalf of 
opinions, often far from true. If erroneous con- 
victions then, are capable of inspiring such hardi- 
hood, what may we not ascribe to truth itself? 
Some have shewn wonderful evidence of moral 
power ; multitudes have met a violent death, in 
support of their creed, their country, or in behalf 
of truth at large, with a firmness that nothing 
could appal. All these go to prove that a prin- 
ciple may be built up in the human breast, which 
enables it to oppose an invincible resistance to all 
the evils which it is possible to undergo. But 
for this, Galileo would never have tenanted his 



344 ON THE FEELINGS. 

dungeon, or Hampden have bled on the battle- 
field. In the unfortunate aspect which society 
occasionally presents — distracted with the vio- 
lence of opposing factions, or the temporary su- 
premacy of tyranny and fanaticism, truth, were 
it not for self-sacrifice, would become in a man- 
ner extinct. It is at such times, that individuals 
arise, who cannot be put down — for what can 
tyranny or fanaticism avail, against men who are 
indifferent to poverty, banishment, torture, or 
imprisonment, and who laugh at death? Now, 
this may be achieved by moral courage — by that 
passionate love of truth, to which, under God, we 
owe all the knowledge, enlightenment, and hap- 
piness, which mankind enjoy, or to which they 
shall ever attain. Nature, solicitious as she is 
for our advancement, would not have implanted 
such capabilities, unless for the wisest ends ; if 
we had not required, neither should we have pos- 
sessed them. 

VII. The love of God, created like the other 
affections, is the highest, the dearest, and the best 
of them alL Imbibed in earliest youth, it is con- 
firmed by the reason of after years. It is the 
possession which raises the child above the man 
of sense who is destitute of it. The highest aim 
of the latter indeed, is to elevate the heart, no less 
than the understanding, to the contemplation of 
the Creator; but if love do not dwell within us, 
science is barren. When we feel and reflect, that 
God is the source of every joy; when we find 
that he is the instrument of every earthly good, we 



ON THE FEELINGS. 345 

cannot but experience an uprising of our hearts, 
that surpasses every other emotion. The heart 
and the understanding here, go hand in hand ; the 
one points out and examines the wonders of God's 
creation, and the ways of his providence, while 
the other exults with love and joy over the de- 
velopment. Either singly, is too weak for the 
task. The intellect is too cold — the heart too 
ignorant; both are necessary to enable us to 
realize, in all its fullness, that blessed feeling 
which makes us content with every earthly vicis- 
situde, and by means of which we regard even 
death and suffering with tranquillity. When we 
think upon infinite wisdom and goodness, our 
hearts bound upward, to the equal source of all 
things. Well may the love of God be the strongest 
of all the affections; but inferior passions and 
habits, as well as imperfect cultivation, too fre- 
quently render it feeble, or ineffective. The in- 
structed even, dilate too much on proofs of God's 
existence; as if the infinite order, contrivance, 
and beauty of the moral, no less than of the phy- 
sical world, did not at once point out the Almighty 
Author. It is the boundless benevolence — the 
unspeakable wisdom and goodness of the Deity, 
on which we should continually dwell. Doubtless, 
the most searching intellect is but too well em- 
ployed, in scanning the wonders of providence ; 
but the greatest that man can exert, is poor and 
feeble, unaided by the precious outpourings of the 
heart. The utmost expansion of both, to which 
we can attain, is all too weak to raise a fitting 



346 ON THE FEELINGS. 

strain of praise and thanksgiving. We cannot 
devote too much of this sacred energy to so holy 
a purpose: we cannot too highly worship the 
supreme cause — the Arbiter of all things — the 
hand that measures out the events of time and of 
eternity. To whatever vicissitudes our earthly 
affections may be subjected, this should experi- 
ence none. It ought to be instilled with our 
earliest perceptions ; it should grow with our 
growth ; it should subsist through life, and persist 
in death. We cannot too strongly conceive — too 
strongly feel, that God is the source of every 
good, and the Author of all the happiness which 
we enjoy. It is this abiding conviction, which 
leads us to ascribe every thing that is wise and 
excellent to Him. We are capable of intense 
devotion, of entire confidingness, but the feeling 
is not sufficiently drawn out, so that the heart 
and intellect languish in the direction in which, 
of all others, they should be most frequently 
turned. There is no affection of our nature so 
well calculated to elevate and maintain our moral 
dignity — to sweeten our joys, and to alleviate 
our sufferings — to reconcile us to the cares, the 
contradictions, and the vicissitudes of life, or to 
support us in the hour of death. Yet the love of 
God is the coping-stone and the complement of 
all the affections, of which it pre-supposes the 
existence and highest development. It is by 
earthly affections that it is best nourished, best 
directed, and best sustained. It is vain to hope 
to create the one, by annihilating the other. We 



ON THE FEELINGS. 347 

were not intended for such flights, nor are we 
capable of them. When age, misfortune, and 
isolation from all we love, have taken away the 
objects of our affections, this will fitly fill their 
place. Even then, the recollection of past feel- 
ings will tenant our breasts, and we shall turn 
from their contemplation, still better qualified to 
adore that exalted Being, by whom we trust to be 
reunited for ever, to those whom we have loved 
on earth. Our natures are indeed, too weak to 
be incessantly occupied with so elevated an affec- 
tion ; but when deep thoughtfulness, and the en- 
joyment of countless blessings have chastened the 
heart, we shall recur to it with solemn delight. 
All the affections in truth, are admirable and 
good; but this is best, for it enables us to con- 
template God's works with a fervour, that no mere 
intellectual perception could supply. 

We shall not stop to examine the sad prostra- 
tion of heart and intellect, that would ascribe 
qualities to the Deity, unworthy even of man — 
that would assert anything in opposition to the 
sacred truth, that he is, and only can be, solici- 
tous for the universal happiness and advancement 
of his creatures, here and hereafter — now and for 
ever. Mysticism assumes the possibility of un- 
limited communion with the Deity, by other than 
natural means ; but it may be safely alleged that 
no human being is capable of such. Our only 
intercourse is through the ordinary channel of the 
heart and understanding, and by the maintenance 
of our better affections. The history of the hu- 



348 ON THE FEELINGS. 

man mind abundantly demonstrates the futility of 
pretensions, that stretch beyond the compass of 
human powers. A devotion to which the intellect 
does not contribute, incurs the constant risk of 
going astray; but the worst result of mysticism, 
is that of keeping the mind in a condition of 
barren inertness, or in neglecting the natural 
affections for one, that singly is unattainable. 
Mystics however, do not persecute ; they cannot 
therefore, be styled fanatics : wrapped up in their 
own imaginings, they do not seek to inflict evil 
on others. So far, this is well; but though mys- 
ticism may assume a superior aspect in a few 
elevated minds, it must still be deprecated as 
leading in an erroneous direction. The quietism 
of a Fenelon, a Guyon, or a Krudener, sinks in 
comparison with the more rational piety of a 
Galen, a Kepler, a Galileo, or a Newton. 

VIII. In no two individuals are the affections, 
even those bearing the same name, wholly alike. 
When we are acquainted with their general ori- 
gin however, and have had some experience, it 
will not be difficult to analyze the particular forms 
that come before us. The sympathetic relations 
of man with man, are exceedingly numerous. 
Our hearts throb at the tale of distress, and with 
the joys, the sorrows, and the sufferings of others : 
all this is repaid in kind, to the infinite augmen- 
tation of human virtue and happiness. The 
intercourse of the intelligent and moral-minded, 
is highly pleasing; but that of rationally-accom- 
plished, kind-hearted men and women, is among 



ON THE FEELINGS. 349 

the greatest enjoyments which life affords. There 
is an intelligence, a solicitude to please, a confi- 
dingness, and a refinement, singularly gratifying 
to unperverted minds. Human intercourse how- 
ever, is not always what it ought to be ; and one 
cannot help thinking what a pleasant world it 
might become, were better social arrangements 
introduced, and a superior education accorded to 
all. The daily intercourse of life originates end- 
less combinations of emotion, some of which have 
been unfelt before, while others never recur 
again. Many are so habitually under the influ- 
ence of certain feelings, as to tinge their whole 
conduct; among these, are gentleness, courtesy, 
and good temper. Certainly, few things are 
calculated to modify character more favourably, 
than the habitude of such, when connected with 
correct moral perceptions. Without these, a 
seeming urbanity, though regulated by all the 
formularies of a Castiglione or a Chesterfield, is 
but a screen for folly or duplicity. 

Virtue is the union of emotions highly plea- 
surable, with superior moral perceptions. Under 
certain circumstances indeed, its exercise may 
be attended with painful feelings; but pleasing 
ones are always more or less associated, and con- 
stitute the ordinary alliance. Duty may be con- 
nected with an excess of present suffering; but 
the ultimate result, both here and hereafter, must 
be a preponderance of happiness. Were this 
not so, virtue would be incongruous with herself. 
The advantages of association, in the regulation 



350 ON THE FEELINGS. 

of our intellectual operations, are indeed, great ; but 
they sink into insignificance, when contrasted with 
its importance in a moral point of view. It is 
here, that the gigantic influence of this mighty 
agent becomes conspicuous. Were it not for it, 
the law of transference would not exist; and 
without both, there could be no disinterestedness. 
In consequence of this sublime, this stupendous 
exercise of God's wisdom and power, the plea- 
surable emotions connected with any desirable 
end, are transferred to the means productive of 
that end. Outward advantages may be absent, 
or replaced by suffering, yet the precious feelings 
allied with superior conduct, prove an ample re- 
compense. The instrument which realizes so 
admirable a result, and which so clearly testifies 
the wonderful providence, and unspeakable bene- 
volence of the Deity, is association. As an all- 
important law of moral and intellectual causation, 
it is perhaps among the best established of any of 
the governing principles of the human mind. 
The annals of humanity teem with examples 
illustrative of all that is here insisted on. In- 
stances are endless, wherein men and women 
have given up every earthly possession, and life 
itself, in conformity with the dictates of feeling. 
If ever love was disinterested, it is that of a 
mother for her child. Oh, what would she not 
suffer for the almost unconscious infant which 
she clasps to her bosom — what sacrifices would 
she not endure, utterly unthinking and careless 
of a return? At every step, we witness the 



ON THE FEELINGS. 351 

evidence of disinterestedness, in measureless and 
unceasing kindness and love. In the exercise of 
the different passions and affections, to what pro- 
digies of devotedness has it not led? Love, 
friendship, patriotism, and philanthropy, have 
each offered their bright and glowing testimony 
to its truth — testimony, which all the cavils in the 
world can never impeach or gainsay. What 
multitudes of pious and right-minded individuals, 
in the midst of outward poverty, wretchedness, 
and adversity, have yielded the strongest proof 
of pure, disinterested, and glowing feelings, in 
their perfect submission to the providence of a 
just and wise God? An agent of such superlative 
efficacy, in the support of virtue and excellence, 
cannot be too earnestly insisted on, or too assidu- 
ously cultivated. 

4. Painful feelings unhappily, form a large 
proportion of the trains of consciousnesss which 
make up our earthly existence. They commence 
early, and they accompany us to the grave. The 
lot of man is variously cast, and while pleasure 
and pain are more evenly balanced than what 
some suppose, there is, in reality, a very great 
disparity. Certainly, nature never intended that 
some should be sated with pleasure, while others 
were steeped in misery. It would be to do away 
with all motive and exertion, were competence 
and starvation, virtue and vice, knowledge and 
ignorance, liberty and oppression, equally pro- 
ductive of happiness. It is indeed, true, that 
some will be indifferent in situations, which to 



352 ON THE FEELINGS. 

others, are replete with privation; but this can 
never annihilate the distinction between good 
and ill. While there are such things as refine- 
ment and coarseness, knowledge and ignorance^ 
virtue and vice — and while our organs and our 
intellects remain constituted as they are, so long 
will there be something to cultivate, and to avoid 
with all our energies, and consequently, a differ- 
ence in our condition and happiness. Mental 
and moral culture, and the exercise of the affec- 
tions and moral qualities, are the greatest sources 
of enjoyment. The pleasures of sense, if occa- 
sionally more intense, are brief and fleeting; 
those of the heart and intellect, deep and lasting. 
Sensual gratifications, more or less refined, are 
most in demand ; the superiority of those derived 
from mental and moral sources, will not soon be 
practically enrolled among the convictions of our 
race. Truth however, is progressive; and it is 
impossible even for the wisest and best, to imagine 
any thing so good or so wise, as not to be even- 
tually implanted in the hearts and habits of 
mankind. 

The origin of painful, is precisely that of plea- 
surable feelings. Painful sensations are remem- 
bered, and become connected with each other, 
and with various sums of ideas. Once deposited 
in the memory, they may be translated from 
mind to mind, through the various avenues of 
association. When we witness a person in dis- 
tress, we join in his emotions, if similar ones have 
a place in our bosoms. Sometimes indeed, dif- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 353 

ferent feelings are excited, as when annoyance 
leads to scorn, or misplaced terror to contempt. 
The cause of this is obvious; the feelings which 
we observe, and with which we cannot sympa- 
thize, lead to ideas with which different emotions 
are associated. A man may justly refuse to sym- 
pathize with pusillanimity, but he is unfeeling or 
immoral, if he do not with virtuous and allowable 
suffering. When the evil is enormous however, 
it seems to deaden compassion : fire, shipwreck, 
famine, bloodshed, and pestilence, overwhelm the 
commiseration, that a smaller amount of misfor- 
tune would excite. Analogous emotions of all 
descriptions, as every reader of the human heart 
is aware, afford an easy inlet to each other. 

Pain is not needlessly inflicted. Occasional 
instances do indeed occur, wherein its immediate 
utility is not discernable, but which we can readily 
justify, by referring to its general necessity. Few 
will be so bold as to maintain the ancient paradox, 
that pain is no evil; nevertheless, it is certain 
that without it, there would be much less happi- 
ness. The object of the Creator is not that we 
should possess existence merely, but that we 
should enjoy it. To secure this result more 
effectually, he has not only connected pleasure 
with virtue, but the opposite with vice. Corporeal 
suffering tends to prevent the continuance of con- 
ditions, that would be detrimental to the organi- 
zation ; while mental, is the ordinary contingency 
of such as lead to moral injury and disease. 
Envy, ingratitude, tyranny, and persecution, are 



354 ON THE FEELINGS. 

attended with pain in the mind of the agent, 
while virtue is associated with pleasure. Mental 
pain then, operates in the production of virtue, 
by connecting its absence with sorrow and suf- 
fering. Thus, nature proves her own accuser, 
judge, and avenger: if we listen to her dictates, 
the evil may be averted or mitigated, but if not, 
it must continue to assail us. By the occasional 
connexion of pain with pleasure, whereby the 
latter is enhanced, an additional advantage has 
been secured. This indeed, is to convert pain 
into pleasure, and evil into good. Painful feel- 
ings may be variously associated with each other, 
and with intellectual conditions, in themselves 
indifferent. When despondent and gloomy pas- 
sions have been indulged in, they are apt to 
reproduce themselves. New associations are 
formed ; old ones are repeated, and the mind is 
confined to the same unceasing and melancholy 
round. Disinterested grief may be felt just as 
readily, as disinterested emotions of a different 
kind ; and when it comes under the head of sym- 
pathy, may be looked upon as a branch of virtue. 
We feel the woes, no less than the joys of others, 
though personally free from the sources of 
either. It will appear then, from these different 
particulars, that pain, whether corporeal or men- 
tal, besides the hindrances which it opposes, and 
the correctives which it applies to vice, has fre- 
quently a direct tendency to heighten virtue, 
and even to produce happiness. 

I. Sorrow and grief, in the first instance, 



ON THE FEELINGS. 355 

arise from sensations of pain, which being recol- 
lected, are gradually transferred to different 
trains of ideas. These being awakened under 
appropriate circumstances, the painful emotion 
is necessarily recalled at the same time. When 
deprived of wealth, we lose not only the advan- 
tages, but the numerous associations connected 
with the exercise of pecuniary influence. We 
are exposed to the hardships of poverty, as well 
as to the real, or imaginary apprehensions by 
which it is aggravated. The regret which we 
experience from the absence of a beloved object, 
and the loss of fame or power, may be similarly 
analyzed. Our painful feelings are continually 
re-awakened, until our own efforts, or the current 
of circumstances, has blunted their intensity. As 
no pleasure is so great, as that which we derive 
from the society of our fellows, so no grief is so 
enduring, as that which is occasioned by their loss. 
Oh, it is sad to see the face no more, which once 
beamed gentleness and affection — to hear no 
more, the accents of friendship, and to lose for 
ever, so far as regards this world, the multiplied 
good offices of unceasing kindness and love. 
How bitter is the anguish of parting from those 
who are dearer to us than our own souls — to wit- 
ness the filmy veil, which shrouds in darkness 
the eye of devotion and truth? No suffering is 
so intense as that occasioned by the dissolution 
of earthly ties — ties, which the hand of death 
alone can repair. 

II. Among the painful emotions which agitate 



356 ON THE FEELINGS. 

the soul, fear holds a prominent place. No age 
or station is exempt from its deteriorating influ- 
ence. The term, is a name for various mental 
conditions — the dread of death is one thing, of 
poverty, another. An individual who would feel no 
scruple in storming a battery, might yet experi- 
ence the utmost trepidation in addressing an 
assembled multitude. Fear is a painful emotion, 
united with endless groups of complex ideas. 
Sometimes, a peculiar association, or an idiosyn- 
crasy of temperament, leads to it; as some have 
been known to dread a cat, or the odour of musk. 
Of all the sources of fear to which mankind are 
exposed, the most numerous are derived from 
themselves. They are not only the actual ob- 
jects of reciprocal dread, but they experience a 
multitude of fears that are wholly imaginary. 
When the intellectual and moral capabilities of 
human beings are better cultivated, they will 
cease to regard each other with apprehension ; 
they will place implicit confidence in the wise 
and just providence of God, and regard him with 
unmingled reverence, devotion, and love. The 
fear of apparitions is confined to the ignorant, 
that of death, must also cease with the progress of 
moral knowledge. We witness endless proofs of 
infinite benevolence in this world ; why should 
we apprehend a cessation of it in the next? 
Death is no less natural than sleep, and the one 
is no more to be apprehended than the other. 
Why should we suppose that the goodness and 
wisdom which characterize every arrangement 



ON THE FEELINGS. 357 

on earth, should not be displayed on a more ex- 
alted and perfect scale hereafter? Mankind are 
the victims of fear. They pass through life in 
continual dread of the evils, which their heedless 
folly, ignorance, or malevolence, leads them to 
inflict. This is a condition which nothing save 
the diffusion of information, and better moral 
training, can essentially alter. 

III. Repentance is composed of the union of a 
painful emotion with the perception of a disastrous 
result. A lost opportunity, an omitted duty, or 
the commission of acts of impropriety, leads in 
minds that are not degraded, to sorrow and regret. 
The intellect points out the conditions which we 
have not fulfilled, thereupon spring up the painful 
emotions connected with the failure. The in- 
fluence of the understanding in the production 
and perpetuation of our different feelings, is very 
great, and in one way or other, extends to them 
all. When the moral principles have been ex- 
tinguished, or much perverted, repentance is 
absent. The intellectual perceptions and better 
feelings with which it is united, may never have 
been formed, or having been so, are overwhelmed 
and destroyed. In either case, acts of heinous 
atrocity will be committed without regret. If, 
however, it do occur, it assumes the form of 
remorse — that better repentance which ensues 
after crime. Too frequently however, there is 
none, and the perpetrator of iniquity leaves this 
world unhealed. Yet, the general result is the 
occurrence of repentance, when there has been 



358 ON THE FEELINGS. 

any invasion of the moral law. That, which 
follows an error that cannot be directly remedied, 
is the most intense. When the object of our 
misconduct has been removed by death — when 
past harshness and injustice are not to be recalled, 
we experience an extremity of anguish. Re- 
pentance is the corrective of evil and crime, but 
if followed by no amendment, it is destitute of 
every wholesome feature. If genuine, the result 
is testified in the altered conduct of the individual. 
When deep and unaffected contrition ensues, 
the penitent becomes a new being; sin and 
sorrow are blotted from his soul, and he com- 
mences a fresh career of virtue and excellence. 
Let us then, encourage the criminal in the forma- 
tion of new and correct feelings and convictions ; 
let us assure him, that if he will pursue the path 
of goodness and truth, there is happiness in store 
for him, and the inexpressible enjoyment of an 
approving heart. How often is the offender 
against the laws of nature and the intentions of 
Providence, plunged irremediably into sin and 
misery, by a cold-hearted and pitiless world ? In 
how many instances are crime and vice to be 
ascribed to defective institutions, that place the 
individual within the sphere of temptations, 
which no sufficient moral or intellectual culture 
enables him to resist? It is the object of re- 
pentance to induce the offender to amend his 
habits, his feelings, and his conduct; to connect 
misery with their improper, and happiness with 
their well-regulated indulgence. The only just 



ON THE FEELINGS. 359 

repentance, is that by which our souls are puri- 
fied and turned to virtue — by which our moral 
perceptions are exalted, and by which our hearts 
are lifted with joy and thankfulness to the 
Almighty Giver of good. 

This invaluable principle however, is too often 
perverted. Men in an inferior stage of civiliza- 
tion are to be found, who shall evince more 
regret for the omission of a superstitious rite, 
than for the violation or perversion of the dictates 
of truth and justice. During those unhappy, and 
not very distant periods, when human victims were 
immolated on the altars of intolerance, the perpe- 
trators were so far blinded to every correct 
perception, as to display nothing but satisfaction 
and an irreligious joy at the spectacle. Could 
those who thus outraged every feeling of pro- 
priety, have been cognizant of the commonest 
principles of morality? Doubtless, they ex- 
perienced a deeper regret in not having consigned 
a supposed criminal to the flames, than in ne- 
glecting the observances of religion and truth. 
In more recent times however, men may be found 
who scruple not to run counter to every obliga- 
tion of conscience, when inflamed by personal 
resentment, fanaticism, or political animosity, but 
who are nevertheless, punctilious in the display 
of outward observances. Assuredly, the heart 
must be far astray, that can on any pretext, in- 
fringe the sacred duties which we owe to our 
fellows ; nor can the love of God or man, actuate 
the individual who thus conducts himself It is 



360 ON THE FEELINGS. 

to sap the foundations of morality, when people 
can bring themselves to believe, that religion and 
justice are served by slander, insult, and injury. 
Immorality however, can never bring forth the 
fruits of morality ; nor the semblance of virtue, 
the happiness that is conferred by the reality. 
There can be no religion where there is not some 
degree of intelligence, a pure heart, correct con- 
duct, and elevated aspirations. Mere ceremonial, 
or the assertion of particular opinions, can never 
assume the place of a faultless life, or of the well- 
founded repentance of a pure and contrite heart. 
In all countries where the opposite persuasion is 
general, there is a greater or less abandonment 
of principle, and an awful prevalence of immo- 
rality, atheism, fanaticism, and hypocrisy. The 
longer I reflect, the more firmly do I feel per- 
suaded, that nothing can destroy this condition of 
things, save the better cultivation of the heart and 
head of all, from youth upward, and the dissemina- 
tion of rational and elevated views on the subject 
of the Deity and his providence. Such would 
correct the defects of society, and place moral 
excellence on a firm foundation ; vice and 
hypocrisy would be discouraged, while offenders 
would be brought under the influence of that 
searching repentance, without which, crime has 
little prospect of being remedied, or better habits 
of being established. 

IV. Disappointment is the union of certain 
ideas with painful feelings. It is long before we 
bear the evils of life with firmness and equani- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 361 

mity ; by degrees however, we become inured to 
them, and regard them as among the ordinary 
conditions of existence. The corporeal and 
mental pains which they generate, lay the basis 
of an endless variety of associations, which every 
fresh disappointment adds to, or confirms. We 
ever contain within us, in a latent state, nu- 
merous susceptibilities of pleasure and pain, 
which may be awakened or not, as circumstances 
determine. The most frequent source of disap- 
pointment is the formation of unreasonable ex- 
pectations, and the practice of placing happiness 
otherwise, than in the dictates of reason and 
morality. If we indulge in no wishes that it will 
not be in our power to realize, circumscribe our 
desires within the boundary of probabilities, and 
cherish intellectual and moral habits, our disap- 
pointments will not be either numerous or severe. 
Now, these our habits, are the very things which 
lie most in every one's power, and which are 
most conducive to the happiness of all. Thus, 
by the infinite benevolence of the Deity, our 
well-being is placed in our own hands ; and if 
every one would but cultivate to the utmost, the 
capabilities that are left at his disposal, there 
would be comparatively, little to complain of, on 
the score of the inequalities of rank, wealth, or 
condition. Several circumstances however, mi- 
litate against this self-cultivation — the imperfect 
regulations of society, inferior political institutions, 
and above all, the defective state of education. 
Nevertheless, the general rule remains unim- 



362 ON THE FEELINGS. 

peached; and if men would but acquaint them- 
selves with their duties, and practise them with 
all their might, their prospects of happiness would 
be infinitely increased. Even when reasonable 
expectations and dearly cherished hopes have 
been frustrated, our efforts will secure as many 
alleviations as the case will permit. It is amongst 
our highest excellencies that we should ever strive 
to be above our fortune, and to be equally 
independent of external good or ill. What is 
there in the former, that a man should identify 
himself with it, or in the latter, that it should 
utterly cast him down? He may be transported 
for a time by the one, or momentarily depressed 
by the other ; but has not the Deity given him 
the mastery over things external ; has he not en- 
dowed him with the imperishable riches of the 
heart and understanding, that depend upon 
neither time nor place — why then, should he cease 
to be himself for anything that may befal, in this 
fugitive and perishable scene ? There is neither 
poverty nor riches, good fortune nor ill — no evil 
in fine, that human constancy may not surmount. 
It is therefore, our duty, without pretending to a 
vain, because impracticable impassiveness, to 
make the most of every situation in which we 
may be placed, and to look upon earthly goods 
with an eye that has been chastened by the per- 
ception of the eternal truths of religion and 
morality. Let us be moderate and rational in 
our expectations — let us found them on the nature 
of things, and on the faultless order established 



ON THE FEELINGS. 363 

by Providence. This is the corrective for all evil : 
when however, we erect a standard of right and 
wrong that is not founded on this, what can 
accrue but anguish and disappointment? We 
should try to have just notions, to be true to 
ourselves, and to maintain our independence 
against all external influences. If we do this, it 
will be difficult for any situation to destroy our 
equanimity, or to make us forget our duties to 
ourselves and others. Disappointments however, 
will^assail the best; no one is wholly free. Our 
nearest, our dearest, and our best friends — our 
children, and the companions of our hearts, are 
successively removed by the hand of death; the 
intercourse of the world but imperfectly supplies 
their place, and at length, we find ourselves alone. 
Even here, the good and wise man will endeavour 
to perform his duty ; but his heart yearns towards 
that other world whither his friends have gone 
before ; and he cannot help sighing for the period 
in which he shall rejoin them for evermore. 
Thus, the losses and the crosses of life, have a 
spiritualizing and purifying tendency, and pre- 
pare the heart and understanding for the final 
change. Thus, evil is converted into good, 
and all things work for the amelioration and 
regeneration of the human soul. 

V. Mental weariness to some, is the bane of 
existence; certainly, few conditions are more 
distressing. It is apt to assail us most, when 
the daily task is done, and when neither duty 
nor pleasure, calls for immediate exertion. It 



364 ON THE FEELINGS. 

lies more in the negation of pleasure, than in the 
positive infliction of pain ; nevertheless, it is often 
combined with painful emotions, disappointments, 
unpleasant retrospects or anticipations. Mental 
weariness is most frequently experienced by the 
idle, the disappointed, the hypochondriacal, and 
such as have relinquished active employments, 
for the imaginary pleasures of indolence and ease. 
Those who have habituated themselves to high 
excitement, are seldom comfortable unless while 
they experience it, Sensualists are generally 
wretched in the intervals of their enjoyments, 
which, spin them out as they may, can only 
occupy a limited period. The institutions of 
society, miserably imperfect in many respects as 
they are, constitute a copious source of mental 
weariness. How can the victim of injustice, 
poverty, and neglect, avoid being weary — weary 
and heart-sick of very existence ? Human beings 
are the agents of the greatest happiness which, 
next to the operation of nature, it is possible for 
them to enjoy; yet much of that which might be 
derived from this source, is cut off. 

The utility of occupation is seen in the case of 
the artisan and the peasant, who engaged in un- 
ceasing toil, have neither time nor inclination for 
mental weariness. This is not urged as a reason 
why corporeal exertion should wholly assume the 
place of mental, but to shew that there are means by 
which the condition under consideration, may be 
obviated. It is the part of every man to cultivate 
a rational intercourse with his fellows : to be ac- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 365 

tive in the performance of his duties, and in the 
improvement of his faculties, and to prepare for 
the translation to another world. This is a busi- 
ness which may well occupy every leisure moment 
of our mortal existence, pleasantly and profitably. 
Assuredly, there is enough to be done — know- 
ledge to be stored up, affections to be exercised, 
duties to be attended to, and misery to be re- 
lieved, adequate, and more than adequate to en- 
gage every thought, and every waking minute of 
the most energetic individual. Let us work then, 
and labour assiduously, for life is flitting fast 
away. All have a task to perform — all may be 
useful in their respective positions ; and if we are 
willing and active, we shall never experience 
weariness of mind, nor shall our graves close the 
account of an idle and worthless existence. 

VI. Painful or pleasing recollections and anti- 
cipations, hardly comprise a class by themselves, 
since they include every kind of emotion, whether 
as regards the past or future. Recollected emo- 
tions constitute no mean portion of daily life. 
As the past may have been chequered with sor- 
row or joy, as pleasure or pain may have predo- 
minated, so will be the current of ordinary 
existence. Occurrences in which our passions 
and our energies have been excited, are singu- 
larly engrossing. Men who have taken a share 
in any remarkable event, can sometimes think of 
nothing else. The soldier narrates his battles, 
the statesman the measures which he has con- 
certed, and the man of the world, the petty 



366 ON THE FEELINGS. 

events of society — all, in fine, dwell upon the past. 
This principle, when carried to a moderate ex- 
tent, is productive of advantage ; but it is obvious 
that it must prove injurious, if our retrospections 
go to prejudice our existing usefulness, or to per- 
vert the appreciation of passing events. The 
anticipation of future pleasure or pain, calls for 
no particular analysis, since it is but the trans- 
ference of feelings and ideas already experienced. 
Our present happiness is influenced by the 
past, as well as by the determinations which we 
frame respecting the future. If people would 
be but fully assured, that each word, thought, and 
feeling, had some prospective bearing, more or 
less appreciable, it would lead them to weigh 
more carefully the consequences of their conduct. 
The advantages accruing from prudence in the 
highest and best sense of the term, are not only 
immediate, but extend throughout our career, 
shedding their beneficent influence upon every 
future act and condition of our existence. Moral 
causation teaches us that the present depends in 
a great measure upon the past, and the future upon 
the present and past inclusive. Doubtless, our con- 
dition hereafter, must be regulated by our conduct 
here — how far indeed, the great Arbiter of events 
can alone decide. Motives derived from others, 
will often influence conduct to such an extent, that 
the individual appears to have undergone an en- 
tire revolution of character. It is obvious, that 
the stronger the moral and intellectual impulses 
which we receive, the more decided will be the 



ON THE FEELINGS. 367 

alteration in our ideas and habitual demeanour. 
Nor is it perhaps too much to presume, that the 
influx of new feelings and ideas attendant on our 
transfer to the world to come, may have a cor- 
responding influence, in inducing that desirable 
improvement of which every human being will 
stand sufficiently in need. Present happiness is 
largely affected by the judgments which we form 
as to the future. If they are erroneous, exagge- 
rated, or insufficient, we must be more or less 
unhappy, and if correct, the reverse. Were the 
mental and moral superiority which the latter 
would ensure, universal, how much would the 
situation of mankind be improved? Warned, 
comforted, and instructed by the past, they would 
calculate with certainty on the future ; their well- 
being, placed as it is in their own hands, would 
be fully secured; and free from painful retro- 
spections, and unhappy anticipations, they would 
complete the term of their career, securely trust- 
ing that the events which were veiled from their 
perceptions, would be no less wisely and benefi- 
cently ordered, than those which came within the 
range of their actual observation. 

VII. I have now gone over the leading con- 
siderations connected with painful emotions. 
What has been said, serves to shew their im- 
portant agency, and to demonstrate that our 
happiness would be imperfectly secured without 
their contingency. Pain is not inflicted for its 
own sake; it is a subordinate instrument— a 
means, but never an end. It is possible, though 



368 ON THE FEELINGS. 

reason does not venture to pronounce, that pain 
may be made accessory to the promotion of 
virtue and happiness hereafter ; but we may be 
very certain that it can never be employed as an 
end, and that to whatever measures the Ruler of 
events may resort, they will be only such, as wis- 
dom, benevolence, and power supreme, could 
dictate. There is no infliction without an object ; 
and when this has been secured, the introduction 
of new associations, by a provision truly divine, 
alleviates or removes the pang. This principle 
doubtless, is subject to modifications, but as a 
general rule, it is unassailably correct. The 
grief which we experience for the loss of friends, 
and other misfortunes, leads us to anticipate the 
future with calmness, resignation, and desire. It 
perfects the moral man, and shews the littleness 
of material possessions, in opposition to the goods 
of the heart and understanding, which never 
decay, and which are a possession for ever. In 
fine, virtuous grief and sorrow, to a certain extent, 
are useful and necessary portions of the great 
moral machinery, which fits us for the duties of 
this world, and prepares us for an abode in the 
next. 

5. As to mixed feelings, life is such a combina- 
tion of good and evil, pleasure and pain, that 
they are found in the breasts of all. Almost 
every pleasure is alloyed with anxiety, and there 
are few sufferings wholly destitute of some 
counteracting admixture. Pleasure must be 
toiled for, before it can be won, and continued 



ON THE FEELINGS. 369 

exertion is necessary to its preservation. The 
difficulties and the hindrances connected with 
the pursuit however, involve more or less pain. 
This, indeed, is overpaid, but not wholly removed 
by the accruing satisfaction. Thus, associations 
are formed between painful and pleasurable feel- 
ings, which, when the latter predominate, are on 
the whole, agreeable. Even when the case is 
otherwise, we are not destitute of consolation and 
support, and consequently, of pleasure. The 
greatest misfortunes must have their term ; and 
we feel assured, even while we suffer evil, so far 
as regards this world irretrievable, that there is 
another, wherein misery and oppression must for 
ever lose their sway. This consideration yields 
satisfaction under circumstances otherwise des- 
perate; for where are the wretched to look for 
support, if not to the providence of God, and to 
a state of being, where the infinite duration of 
happiness and intelligence, reduces the worst 
evils of earth to comparative insignificance ? The 
benevolence, the goodness, and the wisdom of 
man, are oftentimes great, but what are they 
compared with the attributes of the Deity ? We 
cannot even imagine benevolence, wisdom, and 
goodness, approaching to His. Knowing this, 
how can we entertain even a momentary doubt, 
that our condition hereafter, will not be in full 
conformity with all that these attributes would 
lead us to expect ? The miserable, the oppressed, 
and the heart-broken, may rest assured that there 
is a time in store for them, abounding with a joy 

A A 



370 ON THE FEELINGS. 

and a happiness to which no earthly experience 
can furnish a parallel. 

I. The union of pleasure with pain, is a con- 
dition so truly remarkable, that no other than a 
hand Divine, could have blended such opposite 
conditions into an harmonious whole. All feli- 
city derived from external sources, is transitory. 
Delicious music, the pleasant landscape, and all 
the delights of sense, flit away in the possession; 
but the pleasures of mind are never lost. What 
we have thus once enjoyed, we may enjoy again, 
unfettered by time or circumstance. Even when 
the organization is irreparably shattered, and when 
death is upon us, we experience an unspeakable 
serenity — a joy that cannot be told, when we 
feel that the treasures of the heart and under- 
standing remain uninjured, and that we shall 
carry them to another world, there to be aug- 
mented and improved, throughout eternity. Yet 
the consciousness of these things is not unmixed 
with sorrow — we cannot forget the friends whom 
we have loved, and with whom we have realized 
a happiness that cannot be recalled. The not to 
be banished recollection of perished delight, comes 
sighing over us; yet, if it bring pain along with 
it, there is also pleasure, and we experience a 
tranquil melancholy that we would not exchange 
for ruder joys. If friends have left us, we have 
the consolation of remembering their virtues, and 
the pleasant hope of meeting them again. Than 
melancholy, there is no feeling more engrossing, 
unless, indeed, it be love itself. Eaten up with 



ON THE FEELINGS. 37l 

melancholy, is the phrase so fitly made use of, to 
designate its overwhelming influence. When 
unmixed with guilt, or excessive pain, there is 
nothing to hinder it from being exquisitely, 
though mournfully sweet. Like every other 
emotion, it may be cultivated, and such have 
been its fascinations, that some have abandoned 
themselves to it without reserve. It cannot be 
justified to the exclusion of nobler impulses; yet 
in a subordinate degree, its influence in the pro- 
motion of refinement, and even happiness, cannot 
be denied. Melancholy, sometimes pours itself 
over our whole being in a mingled flood of joy 
and sadness. The perfume of a flower, a sum- 
mer breeze, the view of scenes of early pleasure, 
strains of music, but above all, the recollections 
of the past, cause it to gush over us to the exclu- 
sion of every other feeling. It is then, that we 
are wholly absorbed by it, and that those fitful 
emotions, aptly compared to echoes from another 
world, take entire possession of the soul. The 
conditions which awaken retrospective melan- 
choly, as well as those which connect it with the 
future, are too numerous to be mentioned. That 
man must have a heart of stone, who can un- 
moved, look forward to the time, when wife or 
child may need his fostering care — when desolate, 
unpitied, and oppressed, they may have none to 
aid or comfort them. The hand of God alone, 
reaches through the drapery of the grave — once 
entered upon the territories of the world to come, 
we are equally impotent to help or injure those 
whom we leave behind. 



372 ON THE FEELINGS. 

6. The correct appreciation of the following 
subject is of great importance. If we derive our 
ideas in the first instance, from sensation, it is 
no less certain that we must refer our inferior 
passions with a similar qualification, to the same 
source. To suppose them innate, is a libel upon 
human nature, and equally at variance with 
analogy and truth. It is difficult to account for 
the origin of an error so momentous. The 
tender, smiling baby is the type and personifica- 
tion of innocence, and how can we without doing 
violence to our better nature, allow ourselves to 
entertain the belief that such a creature could be 
the actual recipient of any tendency to vice or 
wickedness? The child unborn, is justly invoked 
as the emblem of innocence; yet the infant, 
whether born or unborn, is equally and assuredly 
so. Indeed, the unbiassed perceptions of man- 
kind, have done ample justice to the question. 
The results of education, the tendency of precept, 
the effects of good and bad example — in a word, 
the power of circumstances over character, are 
everywhere, more or less admitted. No one in- 
deed, will deny their influence, but some will 
contend that they are subordinate to inborn 
passions: their power however, is absolute. 
Virtue and vice, knowledge and ignorance, talent 
and dulness, result alike, from the action of cir- 
cumstances on the common susceptibilities of our 
nature. This view is peculiarly favourable to the 
interests of virtue and morality, which in so far, 
argue powerfully in its behalf. It asserts that 
with proper training, all are capable of ex- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 373 

cellence, and that vice and ignorance are to be 
ascribed to the operation of injurious agents. 
Nothing is more common than to urge false con- 
sequences, in order to overthrow or support a 
given position; but the consequences flowing 
from the preceding doctrine, yield a presumption 
of its certainty. There is however, additional 
evidence of the strongest nature : it is wholly in 
conformity with the principles of moral causation ; 
and were there even no other proof, would 
borrow all the certainty which the evidence in 
favour of these, could reflect. But it is capa- 
ble of standing on its own merits, and derives 
equal support from reason and observation, as 
well as from the dictates of morality at large. 
The opposite view is opposed to our conceptions 
of the goodness of God ; while the supposition of 
a universal susceptibility for virtue and excellence, 
is in entire accordance with all that we are able 
to conceive, of his measureless attributes, and 
inseparably mixed up with our purest aspirations. 
The former would be a blot on creation, and out 
of keeping with the general harmony which we 
everywhere behold. If we see evil in the world, 
it originates in our capacity for good, which 
subjects us to an opposite liability. The apparent 
defects and imperfections in our condition, are 
redeemed by compensations, which more than 
outweigh the attendant disadvantages; but the 
existence of inborn, evil passions, would be a gra- 
tuitous and unredeemed infliction, at variance 
with the wisdom and benevolence which mark 
the arrangements of the universe. 



374 ON THE FEELINGS. 

Inferior feelings do not spring up of them- 
selves. Given causes produce them, and without 
the operation of such, they cannot appear. 
These are ascertainable and measurable, and 
taking into account their powerful agency over 
human character, deserve our attentive consi- 
deration. If mankind could once be firmly 
persuaded, that in the world of mind, as in that of 
matter, every change is regulated by fixed and 
unalterable laws, and that with given causes, cer- 
tain consequences inevitably follow, it would lead 
to the happiest results. They would ascribe evil, 
to the influence of badly regulated circumstances, 
and would not seek for good, when the precursors 
which lead to it, had not been called into existence. 
Passion, of whatever malignity, is artificially pro- 
duced; it may be introduced into our bosoms, 
but it is not lodged there by the hand of nature. 
The circumstances productive of inferior passions 
are of a wide range, but they may be briefly summed 
up, under absent or deficient culture, defective 
energy, corrupt example, and erroneous precept. 
High moral, with insufficient mental culture, is 
better than the converse, which is the more 
common occurrence in persons said to be well 
educated. Without the appliances furnished by 
nature, we should be low indeed; but it is her 
intention that the moral, not less than the intel- 
lectual man, should be mainly the work of our 
own hands. Labour and toil, and much striv- 
ing, are necessary to the prosperity of both: the 
heart and understanding, require cultivation 
equally strenuous and unremitting. Evil feelings 



ON THE FEELINGS. 375 

are easily generated, while indulgence confirms 
and multiplies them. One whose impulses are 
gratified without any reference to ulterior pro- 
priety, almost necessarily becomes vicious and 
immoral. Absence of early restraint, together 
with bad example, are among the principle sources 
of human depravity. The child, by a happy 
principle of our nature, since it may be made 
the source of unlimited good, imitates everything 
that he sees and hears ; if the example be inferior, 
his conduct is so likewise. Imperfect indeed, is 
the condition of the mass : society is so defective, 
that no one however fortunate in station, is 
wholly secure from the risk of contamination. 
The child at first, is purely under the dominion 
of his physical wants ; if these be satisfied with- 
out restriction, they must come at length, to 
trench upon his moral well-being. Experience 
has proclaimed that nothing at any age, is so 
much calculated to vitiate and lower the standard 
of excellence, as an unrestrained addiction to 
appetite. On what an infinity of occasions has 
not ruin of body and mind been the result? It 
lowers, if it do not destroy the moral tone; 
renders us incapable of withstanding the hardships 
of life, or of attaining to the elevation which is 
the parent of great and good actions. Sensualists 
indeed, have been found brave and generous; 
but certain it is, that the unalloyed tendency of 
sensuality is debasing. Individuals however, are 
exposed to such mixed influences; moral re- 
generation and correct mental perceptions, occur 



376 ON THE FEELINGS. 

at such different periods, as to render the correct 
appreciation of the different elements which con- 
cur in the formation of character, a problem of 
much complexity. 

The production of evil passions from ill-re- 
gulated moral and intellectual impulses, is greater 
than from any other source. Mind and heart 
must act in unison, under the supervision of ma- 
tured judgment, in order to secure perfection. 
The moral and intellectual man is developed by 
slow degrees, and requires the constant inspec- 
tion of wisdom and excellence. If the wisest and 
best stand in need of incessant self-correction — 
of the example and advice of others, how much 
more must this be the case, with youth and ten- 
der infancy? The common tendency of the lat- 
ter, when uncontrolled by superior goodness and 
wisdom, is to immediate enjoyment, idleness, or 
misdirected effort. Who can doubt, that if a 
number of children were removed from the best 
regulated families, and brought up by savages, 
they would become savage likewise ; and that if 
the offspring of the ignorant and depraved, were 
reared by the wise and good, they would also par- 
take of wisdom and goodness ? If the mental and 
moral powers of the young are thwarted and mis- 
directed ; if they are exposed to the influence of 
bad example ; if their vicious desires are fostered, 
and their good ones repressed ; if they are encou- 
raged to associate pain with what is good, and 
pleasure with what is evil, who can question the 
production of unmitigated malignity ? Most, are 



ON THE FEELINGS. 377 

subjected to mingled influences, good and bad, 
and as either preponderates, so does character 
accordingly. Numerous degrading agencies are 
unhappily at work; but what does it teach, 
but that we should endeavour to avoid them, and 
to nullify their power. Every inferior quality 
that ever existed, must have had some cause, and 
it is the aggregate of such causes, that leads to all 
the miseries which afflict humanity. The absence 
of moral and intellectual culture however, is the 
most fertile source of human depravity. 

I. I shall now enlarge on the leading inferior 
principles, sufficiently to illustrate the foregoing 
observations; and first, on the feeling which 
takes place after the commission of crime, and 
which bears the title of remorse. The pressing 
conviction of the enormities that have been per- 
petrated, awakens a multitude of painful feelings, 
which are transferred to the conviction itself. 
Such have been previously generated by a vari- 
ety of causes, and are ready to be associated as 
occasion demands, with anything that may call 
them forth. These, together with the conscious- 
ness of the affections that have been violated, and 
of the evil that has been done, form a feeling at 
once intense and painful. There is no escape 
unless contrition open the door, and the deeper 
the offence, the more difficult the expiation. 
When revolting crimes have been committed, the 
energies that should point out the remedy, are 
too often absent. The former however, will bear 
a relation to the state of the individual, his moral 



378 ON THE FEELINGS. 

constitution, and the trials which he has under- 
gone ; since it would be improper to place two 
persons on a level, one of whom is innocent, 
because unassailable by temptation, and the other, 
because he has never been exposed to it. Unless 
it can be obviated, remorse must haunt the 
breast, until the close of our career. It may be 
lulled into occasional oblivion, but only to awaken 
with a fresher sting: it is nature's punishment 
for offences against her laws, which are not to be 
violated with impunity. 

If we consider the constitution of the human 
mind, it will not appear remarkable that remorse 
should sometimes be induced by imaginary crimes. 
The understanding is the director of the heart ; 
but if the former be led astray, the latter must 
follow in the track. A superstitious devotee might 
experience agony at the omission or commission 
of an act, that bore no relation to his real welfare. 
It is a serious evil when remorse is felt in con- 
nexion with things of this description, to the pre- 
judice or neglect of more serious observances. 
This is a perversion of the most demoralizing 
character, but one, which is not to be instanta- 
neously eradicated. The dictates of nature how- 
ever, cannot be wholly stifled, and the substitution 
of a factitious morality, can never afford the 
satisfaction, much less the practical results, which 
attend the observance of virtue. It is singular, 
though melancholy, that men could ever be- 
come so far perverted, as to consider themselves 
freed from crime, by the performance of certain 



ON THE FEELINGS. 379 

ceremonies, for the omission of which, they must 
consequently experience greater regret, than for 
the deeds for which they are supposed to atone. 
Experience indeed, has shewn that with the 
ignorant, they come at length, to be regarded as 
cheap and easy means of washing away iniquity. 
Ceremonies are vain and useless ; but if there be 
any truth in virtue, crime is to be expiated by a clear 
conviction of its unhappy and dreadful tendency ; 
by a vivid and sincere contrition, and by the 
realization of an energetic determination to re- 
gulate the after conduct, by the closest dictates of 
religion and morality. 

The legitimate object of painful feelings, is 
their union with allowable grief and sorrow, or 
with enmity towards vice; but they are utterly 
misdirected, when associated with the worth or 
excellence of others. Of this last character, is 
envy. To be jealous of superior endowments, 
can betray nothing but an ill-regulated heart and 
understanding. If indeed, we had been rendered 
incapable of painful feelings, envy could find 
no place in us; but then, their various and 
extraordinary utilities would be forfeited. As 
with other base emotions, this is most apt to 
haunt the hearts of those who are already addicted 
to kindred evil passions. Like these also, it 
exhibits different gradations of intensity, from the 
slightest perceptible shade, up to a pitch of 
boundless malignity. In common with the rest, 
it increases with indulgence, and by vitiating the 
reasoning powers, leads to conclusions little short 



380 ON THE FEELINGS. 

of the dictates of insanity. This passion is not 
exclusively directed against superior objects, 
since a rivalry may exist in villany and vice. The 
vicious and ignorant are opposed to knowledge 
and virtue, as light is opposed to darkness. One 
who knows the worse, as well as the better side 
of humanity, may wage successful war with 
wickedness and guile; but how are the un- 
suspecting and the innocent, to unravel the 
meshes of falsehood, or to ward off the subter- 
fuges and the iniquities, of the evil-minded and 
the base? 

Mere freedom from vice, in so far, is a nega- 
tive quality. An individual may be so apathetic, 
as to be unsusceptible of envy, or he may never 
have been placed in the circumstances which ge- 
nerate it. He alone, is supremely virtuous, who 
has fought with, and overcome the temptation. 
This passion lurks in guises in which we should 
hardly expect to encounter it. Who beforehand, 
would suspect a man, with any claims to enlight- 
enment, of bearing envy to another, who was bet- 
ter informed than himself? There is nothing 
more absurd, than to decry the talent and the 
knowledge which we do not possess. The worst 
form of envv however, is that which the base and 
immoral, display towards superior excellence. It 
will admit of some palliation perhaps, when an in- 
dividual envies in another, the qualities which bear 
away the world's esteem ; but what apology is 
there for those who hate with unspeakable malig- 
nity, the moral worth in which they have no 



ON THE FEELINGS. 381 

share ? Such feelings have the worst influence 
on those who are so unhappy as to experience 
them ; for how is it possible to abhor with impu- 
nity, the single-minded profession and practice 
of morality. If we do not strive we cannot win, 
and surely, every means should be pursued, that 
is calculated to ward off this truly debasing pas- 
sion. Careful management is required to pre- 
vent emulation from degenerating into envy ; ex- 
tended acquirements were better lost, than won 
at the price. 

II. Some passions are conditionally vicious; 
among the number, is contempt. On occasions, 
it is allowable, to feel and to express contempt, 
towards brutality, tyranny, hypocrisy, and vice, 
although tempered by consideration for the power 
of circumstances over the offender. It is a pas- 
sion which the man of highly elevated heart and 
understanding, will rarely experience, inasmuch 
as he will look down with commiseration on its 
more legitimate objects. In ordinary life, how- 
ever, men will not practise this forbearance ; and 
it is at least right, that they should bestow their 
condemnation on things comparatively deserv- 
ing of it. Few moral derelictions are more 
dreadful, than the scorn which is exhibited by 
the ignorant, the prejudiced, the vicious, and the 
superstitious, towards the enlightened and the 
good ; yet how often this has been inflicted, let 
the annals of society declare? I cannot con- 
ceive a greater outrage upon humanity, than 
the iniquities which have been perpetrated by 



382 ON THE FEELINGS. 

arrogance, conceit, and empty folly, against in- 
nocence, gentleness, and blameless excellence. 
Contempt is sufficiently to be deprecated, in cases 
wherein the merits of individuals are equal ; but 
when a grossly inferior nature dares to trample 
on a higher, it calls for the loudest reprobation 
of indignant justice. 

III. Resentment is a feeling that is vicious 
or otherwise, according to the circumstances in 
which it is indulged. It is not necessary that 
human endurance should be carried to such an 
extreme, that neither contumely nor injury is 
capable of moving it. Without some provision, 
individuals would be liable to perpetual insult on 
the part of the violent and unfeeling. As it is, 
people too often submit through timidity or want 
of adequate self-respect, to inflictions that a little 
well-directed energy would speedily repel. What 
is this principle not able to effect? The fiercest 
animals even, hesitate to attack others much 
weaker than themselves, when they shew an 
undaunted front; and men the most savage and 
implacable, will quail before a hardihood that 
nothing can appal. When we have done what is 
necessary to secure our well-being however, we 
are not justified in proceeding farther. Anger 
is unwarrantable towards one who merely asserts 
his rights. It is our bounden duty to keep the 
reining hand of reason upon our resentments ; to 
use them as energizing instruments to secure our 
safety, but not to violate the rules of rigid justice. 
The power which the most violent even, possess 



ON THE FEELINGS. 383 

over their passions, is shewn in the circumstance 
that few venture to indulge them in the presence 
of their superiors. Men of long experience, 
philosophic training, and habitual self-control, 
have been known to exercise such a perfect 
mastery over themselves, as never at any time, to 
suffer anger to overcome them. Such, however, 
are rare, and though we should strive to profit by 
their example, the generality will not venture on 
the attempt. 

IV. Revenge, is the attribute of inferior na- 
tures. We are not however, to place on the 
same level, the man who resents every infringe- 
ment as a deadly affront, with the individual who 
has encountered flagrant injustice, and who seeks, 
however erroneously, to enact retribution on the 
head of the offender. The only case in which a 
palliation is admissible, is under circumstances 
in which society is unable to protect the injured. 
In barbarous times, wherein no public tribunal 
was recognized, and when the oppressed had no 
other resort to secure immunity, retaliation could 
hardly be esteemed a crime. It is impossible 
indeed, for any tribunal, save that of public opi- 
nion, to take cognizance of every offence against 
the well-being of society; and though bigotry 
and party spirit may bias its decisions, they 
are rarely warped so far, as to lead in the long 
run, to the sanction of acts of glaring enormity. 
Yet, when even this fails, what can we do ? Re- 
venge, may appease the ranklings of our hearts, 
but it cannot undo the offence. And when time 



384 ON THE FEELINGS. 

has brought its healing balm, and when the per- 
petrator perhaps, lies stretched in the dust, we 
may think with dissatisfaction on the part which 
we have taken, and wish that it had been other- 
wise. A protest against injury, and a dignified 
demeanour, will often better become us, than 
attempts at impotent and useless revenge. Such 
conduct will be apt to occasion feelings more pain- 
ful in the breast of the offender, than any injury 
that we might have the power, or even the wish to 
inflict. Possibly also, it may lead to repentance, 
and voluntary expiation — the best results; and, 
at any rate, we shall enjoy the pleasant conscious- 
ness of well-doing. It is terrible to witness the 
vindictive inflictions in which some delight. Men 
are occasionally trampled on by their fellows, 
with a degree of ferocity unparalleled, except in 
the combats of the brute. 

V. Pride may be base and malignant, or it 
may be far from unjustifiable. It is frequently 
marked by a peculiar bearing, intimating the con- 
sciousness of supposed superiority. The objects 
with which it is usually connected — station, birth, 
possession, and power, are in this point of view, 
sufficiently contemptible, since they mark an 
over appreciation of things, in which human 
dignity does not reside. If we are to respect 
ourselves, it is as men — as beings endowed with 
rich capabilities ; with pure and elevated feelings, 
and for acts of utility and beneficence. When 
probity, honour, and a sterling regard for truth 
and principle, are mixed with pride, we must 



ON THE FEELINGS. 385 

applaud the combination on the whole. Too 
frequently however, pride is not only unredeemed, 
but united with folly, sensuality, ignorance, and 
vice. In this state, it is wholly intolerable, since 
however disgusting in themselves, these defects are 
thus additionally aggravated. How often has the 
world's history proclaimed the union of pride 
with meanness, cowardice, tyranny, and those 
other qualities which sink the possessor below the 
level of the beast ? The cultivation of the ever- 
lasting portion of our being, and the distinct and 
earnest appreciation of those attributes, to which 
the real elevation of mankind is owing, are the 
only means by which this degrading passion, in 
all its forms, is to be banished from the heart. 

7. It is wearisome to recount the long list of 
human infirmities, and were they not redeemed, 
the mind would revolt and sicken at the task. 
The fanatic, the bigot, the violent party man, and 
those engaged in pursuits that engender an eager 
rivalry little tempered by feeling or principle, 
are the most frequent victims of these degrading 
passions. Their great feature seems to be the 
association of the real or imaginary good of others, 
with painful feelings of our own. Nothing indeed, 
but the defective arrangements of society, and in- 
ferior moral development, could thus lead people 
to look with a jaundiced eye on the prosperity of 
others. Such can be the only origin of those 
degrading associations which fill the heart with 
gall, and poison the cup of happiness through 
life. There is nothing in man, his nature, pros- 

B B 



386 ON THE FEELINGS. 

pects, or condition, thai need cause the happiness 
of his fellows to he the source of evil feelings. 
Under present circumstances however, struggling 
for our daily bread in the midst of keen and bitter 
competition, it requires more than ordinary self- 
control to preserve our equanimity. Society 
ought to be so constituted, that the immediate 
interests of one, should be those of all. False- 
hood, ignorance, and error, stand opposed to the 
improvement of the human race ; they cannot 
exist without being prejudicial, and should be 
resisted until wholly subdued. When mankind 
shall be generally enlightened as to their duties 
and expectations, and made acquainted with their 
relations to each other, to the world around, and 
to their Creator, it is impossible that they should 
not take the best means of freeing themselves 
from existing evils — that the turpitude, misery, 
and defectiveness, under which our social institu- 
tions labour, should not be remedied, and that 
hatred, malice, and uncharitableness, should not 
be banished from the earth. 

I. Bloodthirstiness, cruelty, and brutality, are 
qualities befitting human beings of the worst 
stamp ; they indicate the lowest grade of moral 
and intellectual culture — certainly, the very 
lowest of the former. The accounts which his- 
tory furnishes of the savage atrocities at different 
times displayed on the theatre of the world, are 
truly frightful. One cannot be sufficiently amazed 
at the unrelenting barbarity with which men, 
under different pretexts,have immolated their kind. 



ON THE FEELINGS. 387 

Sometimes the brutalities to which I allude, were 
the acts of masses of men — of individuals, of ar- 
mies, of commanders, of civil and religious tri- 
bunals, and of kings. It is only since a recent 
period, that juridical torture has been abandoned; 
the lash however, is still applied in public, and 
death, often under the most savage and harrowing 
form, is inflicted on criminals, women among the 
rest. Instances of suffering from destitution and 
disease, are so common, even in our paths, as 
rarely to attract either notice or compassion. 
Animals are slaughtered with needless suffering ; 
while on other occasions, they are too often treated 
with unmitigated cruelty. The atrocities perpe- 
trated by victorious armies, wicked kings, and 
fanatical persecutors, are enough to make the 
blood run cold. Countless cities have been de- 
stroyed with such accompaniments, as to make the 
humane and rational almost doubt that any could 
be guilty of them. What feeling individual could 
peruse the details of the cruelties of a Nero, a 
Domitian, or an Iwan, or those inflicted in the 
insulted name of religion, without being moved 
with inexpressible shame and burning indigna- 
tion ? These evils are lessened, but not removed ; 
nation still makes war upon nation, while horrid 
and revolting crimes disgrace society. The in- 
tercourse of mankind can never be what it ought, 
until the prevailing practice of leaving the greater 
portion in blighting ignorance, whether as regards 
intellectual or moral knowledge, shall be utterly 
discarded. Then, and then only, shall blood- 



388 ON THE FEELINGS. 

thirstiness, cruelty and brutality, cease to charac- 
terize our race. 

II. I have now nearly closed the dark cata- 
logue with which I commenced. The passions 
which I have enumerated, are indeed, evil and 
destructive, but their malignity is susceptible of 
still farther aggravation. Brutality, malice, and 
bloodthirstiness receive an additional intensity of 
hue, when united with fanaticism, bigotry, and 
superstition. These last, communicate a depth 
and a continuity of character, of which the first 
alone, are destitute. The vindictiveness of the 
merely ignorant and brutal, is temporary and 
occasional, but the malice of the fanatic is sleep- 
less as the feeling which generates it. Supersti- 
tion as a passion, is one of the worst stamp; 
party-spirit indeed, legitimizes cruelty and op- 
pression, but this is only for a time; whereas, 
this hideous vice renders every kind of infliction 
perennial with itself. Deeds of awful enormity, 
at which men without the motives which super- 
stition furnishes, would shudder, are perpetrated 
under its influence with reckless indifference. It 
blasts the moral perceptions, turns man upon 
man, and in a word, renders its wretched victims 
deaf to every dictate of reason and humanity. 
Nor is it merely its direct results — its immediate 
tendencies, which we are to deplore, but that it 
constitutes itself— erring tribunal, the arbiter of 
right and wrong. In short, superstition in all its 
forms, is the unvarying opponent of truth, wis- 
dom, and excellence, and wages a war of exter- 



ON THE FEELINGS. 389 

mination upon all who are animated with the 
faintest desire of improving the condition of man- 
kind. Victim after victim has been, and must 
continue to be sacrificed to its fury, until know- 
ledge shall for ever extinguish its existence in 
the blaze of universal light. Nothing is too sa- 
cred for the fangs of this ruthless passion — reli- 
gion, the hopes of a happy hereafter, and the 
providence of the Deity, have all been seized 
upon, and inconceivably distorted. Attributes 
the most foreign to his nature, have been ascribed 
to the benevolent Father of all ; and cruelty, im- 
potent, yet unsatisfied — as if a violent death and 
anguish unutterable, were insufficient, unable to 
push the capabilities of poor insulted humanity 
beyond the utmost verge of endurance, has 
doomed the hapless sufferer to torments beyond 
the grave. What other passion could so harden 
the female breast — naturally so susceptible of 
tender emotions, as to have led women even of 
the highest rank, to witness unconcerned the 
ao'onies of the wretched victims of an execrable 
tribunal? What other indeed, could have in- 
duced the ladies of the court of Charles the Ninth 
of infamous memory, to exult over the remains 
of the courtiers who were slain on the occasion 
of the massacre of St. Bartholomew ? Supersti- 
tion, bigotry, intolerance, and fanaticism, are 
akin; they belong to the same evil family, and 
their common results, if not equal in degree, are 
similar in kind. What pen could detail the hor- 
rors, or the bloodshed which they have occa- 



390 ON THE FEELINGS. 

sioned? Yet as if to add another feature to 
their atrocity, wretches for whose villany no re- 
probation is adequate, have taken advantage of 
the insanity to which these passions lead, to 
wreak their enmity on opponents, whose only 
fault perhaps, was that of being over- wise or over- 
good. It cannot be too strongly urged, that the 
only cure for these and similar miseries, is moral 
and intellectual enlightenment. This, under 
God, is the sovereign remedy for those malignant 
and evil -dealing passions which are the sources 
of such inconceivable mischief. With a full per- 
ception of his duties; with a heart alive to the 
sweet impulses of which humanity is susceptible, 
and with a mind energized by the best and most 
powerful motives, man at length, would cease to 
prey upon man, he would equally cease to 
be the victim or the oppressor, and dwelling in 
the midst of the sublime realities of existence — 
inspired by the precious relations which connect 
him with his fellows and with his Creator, he 
would complete the term of his career usefully 
and happily, and pass resigned and cheerful to 
that ulterior stage of being, of which the present 
is but the threshold and the vestibule. 

III. Did not ample experience confirm the 
fact, we should doubt the possibility of such a 
quality as disinterested malevolence. That a 
human being should be guilty of inflicting pain 
and annoyance from the mere love of evil, seems 
at variance with reality. Unhappily however, 
nothing is more certain ; and from the idle boy 



ON THE FEELINGS. 391 

who delights in tormenting dogs, drunkards, and 
lunatics — the sarcastic orator and the sneering 
cynic, to him in whom malevolence and wicked- 
ness are the business of life, all exhibit but vary- 
ing shades of the same base passion. So many 
examples are on record of men whose pleasure 
consisted in the infliction of evil, that although 
we may doubt whether all the feelings could be 
merged in this one, it still remains unquestion- 
able that it may become the leading character- 
istic. It is trite to say, that this deadly principle 
could exist to this extent, in no cultivated intel- 
lect or feeling heart. Historians indeed, affirm 
that Nero in the early part of his career, was 
conspicuous for clemency; but we may well 
doubt whether his disposition was ever really such 
as to indicate this quality. A feeling and en- 
lightened man can never become a brute, though 
nothing is more easy with regard to one who is 
ignorant and immoral. The despot just named, 
would not have altered, had he been in possession 
of the qualities first ascribed to him. Who, for 
example, could believe that such a change was 
practicable with regard to an Aurelius, a Julian, 
or a Vespasian? There is too much of this dis- 
interested malevolence in the world. It is deemed 
hardly culpable to give pain to an enemy, or to 
those who, deservedly or otherwise, incur our dis- 
pleasure. An extension of the principle is seen 
in controversial writings, and in the usages of 
deliberative assemblies. The wise, the good, and 
the benevolent, will rarely be the cause of suffer- 



392 ON THE FEELINGS. 

ing to others ; and when stern necessity compels 
the infliction, it will be with a painful reluctance 
widely different from the savage exultation at- 
tendant on some of the practices of society. 
This reprehensible tendency may exist to a 
slight extent, in persons otherwise worthy of 
esteem; but the qualities with which a defect is 
united, should never be suffered to obscure its 
real nature, or to induce indifference. The pro- 
duction of disinterested malevolence is briefly 
this. In minds of inferior training, the advantages 
which are realized by others, come to be looked 
upon with pain, while their losses are regarded 
with satisfaction. When this is habitually in- 
dulged in, and more especially, if from motives 
of gain or enmity, the individual take an active 
share in the perpetration of evil, he comes by 
degrees, to experience pleasure in the practice. 
In the career of ambition, men struggle for power 
from the persuasion of its advantages; eventu- 
ally however, they pursue it for its own sake. 
This, and other illustrations, go to shew that an oc- 
cupation which is engaged in with earnestness and 
passion, is eventually loved independent of colla- 
teral advantages. There is perhaps no single 
pursuit which people do not follow with an 
entire abrogation of interested motives. The 
professional man, the merchant, and the man of 
science, afford equal examples. It follows there- 
fore, that we should pay the most scrupulous atten- 
tion to the nature and tendency of all our habits, 
since we shall inevitably conceive attachment for 



ON THE FEELINGS. 3 ( J3 

whatever we practise with energyand perseverance, 
however irksome and disagreeable it may prove at 
first. What an overwhelming — what an admirable 
argument in behalf of truth, morality, and all ex- 
cellence, and what a sublime example of the 
goodness, the mercy, and the wisdom of God? 
Let the votary of virtue never flag — let him only 
persevere, and he must eventually reap a bright 
and glowing reward in the ardent feelings which 
his conduct shall light up within his heart — feelings 
pure and unmixed, and which the most assiduous 
cultivation of happiness for its own sake, could 
never realize. As for the blighting pleasures 
arising from disinterested malevolence, they 
cannot be compared for a moment, mixed up 
as they are, with the miseries flowing from the 
stern retribution of insulted nature, with the ever- 
flowing, ever-increasing satisfactions which accrue 
from a life of virtue. The unhappy subject of 
such a perverted feeling, is liable to incessant 
misery from the spectacle of the well-being which 
he is unable to prevent; while he must be often 
visited with the scorn which his conduct is so 
well calculated to inspire. 

8. There are two states of mind, each of a 
truly deplorable nature — the one, the absence of 
all feeling, the other, that of the better feelings. 
The almost exclusive attention which is paid to 
intellectual education, and the neglect of adequate 
moral culture, suffice to account for the occurrence 
of minds without feeling. In such, the con- 
ceptions on the subject of virtue, are cold and 



394 ON THE FEELINGS. 

passionless ; the affections are meagre or null, and 
the refinement and delicacy of sentiment which 
give the relations of life their greatest relish, and 
enshrine them in dignity and grace, are wanting. 
Individuals like these, may be cognizant of their 
duties, and attend to them with sedulous propriety, 
but they cannot love virtue for its own sake, or 
take any pleasure in the performance of those 
numberless courtesies and amenities, which fill 
existence with delight, and make the intercourse 
of society a priceless happiness. I need not here 
urge the advantages which virtue, and even 
knowledge, derive from those pure emotions, with- 
out which the former could not be said to exist. 
Those who are destitute of them, will never be 
enthusiasts in the cause of excellence ; they will 
not enrol themselves in the bright phalanx which 
combats for truth and the advancement of hu- 
manity, neither will they look with entrancing 
delight on the wonders of Providence, nor regard 
the future with hope and longing. The exclusive 
presence of the inferior feelings, is a condition still 
worse than the preceding, since to equal dis- 
advantages, it adds its peculiar evils. Prevention 
is the only efficient remedy. Let the young of 
both sexes be universally instructed ; let their 
attention be early directed to the contemplation of 
the elevated spectacle of nature, and let their affec- 
tions and moral principles be incessantly developed 
by precept, example, and the use of all those 
means, which judicious and kind-hearted instruc- 
tors so well know how to enforce. 



ON THE FEELINGS. 395 

Apathy however, may assume another form, 
to which we refer in speaking of the perished and 
blighted affections. It is contrary to the usual order 
of things that emotions once developed, should 
ever be wholly extinguished. Feelings both of 
pleasure and pain, remain in a latent state, ready 
to be awakened into life and activity ; but in the 
case of the perished affections, no ordinary means 
are sufficient to revive them. An individual for 
example, takes no adequate pains to nurture his 
own affections, or those which have been centered 
in him; he neglects, insults, or betrays, the ob- 
jects whom he should have loved and cherished, 
until their feelings perchance, are entirely alien- 
ated. Than such a procedure, nothing is more 
strongly calculated to destroy the affections, how- 
ever developed. Those who are capable of it, 
are usually addicted to various vices ; their tem- 
pers are stormy and uncontrollable, and their in- 
tellects rarely attain to considerable development. 
In those in whom the affections are dead, 
there may be a range of character, from perfect 
innocence, to vice and wickedness the most reck- 
less. How often has it happened, that the pure- 
minded, from insufficient knowledge of the world, 
defective appreciation of character, undue influ- 
ence, or the mastery of passion, have yielded 
their affections to persons utterly unworthy of 
the preference? With lacerated and bleeding 
hearts, what resort have they? Often supplica- 
ting — often repulsed, and finally abandoned, be- 
trayed, and heart-broken, the affections at length 



396 ON THE FEELINGS. 

take refuge in their secret cells, never to be re- 
awakened. How many are turned aside by 
faults, petulancies, and deficiencies, some of which 
might have been corrected, while others seem 
too deeply grafted for removal? The treatment 
which men have inflicted on those who deserved 
better at their hands, is of so infamous a nature, 
as to be inconceivable to all who have not sounded 
the depths of human depravity. Some are so 
false, so unprincipled, so brutish, and in all re- 
spects so inferior, as to preclude the possibility 
of happiness to those connected with them. There 
are unions on earth, which assuredly were never 
registered in heaven — of the pure with the im- 
pure, of the virtuous with the vicious, of the ig- 
norant with the enlightened, and of the feeling 
with the unfeeling. And whatever may be said 
of their tendency to nurture patience, forbear- 
ance, resignation, and other virtues, I cannot 
think that such disparity is desirable, or that ex- 
cellence and single-heartedness, should be left so 
wholly to the mercy of duplicity, malignity, and 
iniquity. The usages of the world however, pro- 
vide no sufficient remedy, and the innocent vic- 
tim, perhaps destitute of energy, and tied down 
by circumstances wholly uncontrollable, too often 
perishes by sudden violence or slow decay. After 
all, it is our part to make the most of the position 
in which we may be cast. Few situations are so 
extreme, as to be destitute of every alleviating 
feature ; and even where they seem utterly de- 
plorable, the sufferers may still enjoy their own 



ON THE FEELINGS. 397 

approbation, and patiently and trustingly await 
that future, which bruises the fangs of the op- 
pressor, and liberates the oppressed. It is the 
duty of all to improve their intellects, to cultivate 
the precious store of feeling on which happiness 
so much depends, and to cherish incessantly, the 
affections which have been reposed in them. 
In this way, each will best escape that forlorn, if 
not vicious condition, which perished affection 
must realize, and at any rate, enjoy the acquittal 
of an upright heart. 

9. Nothing is more certain, not only that 
similar vices and similar virtues exist in the same 
individual, but that qualities the most opposed, 
will also be found united. The explanation of this 
occurrence is founded on the operation of mixed 
circumstances, some of which are favourable to 
the development of one class of qualities, and 
some to that of another. If we look abroad in 
the world, we often perceive virtue and vice, 
prodigality and meanness, avarice and generosity, 
courage and cowardice, refinement and sensuality, 
variously combined. We are sometimes surprised 
at the liberality of the miser, the humanity of the 
executioner, or the tenderness of the veteran 
inured to war and hardship. Some are marked 
by truckling subserviency and assurance the most 
arrogant. Honour perchance, may be evinced 
by thieves, and generosity by robbers. Some 
have active courage, others passive ; while fear 
at times, assails the bold, and resolution inspires 
the timid. Many are energetic and immoral, 



398 ON THE FEELINGS. 

while others are moral, yet feeble of purpose. 
There are characters who have sufficient honesty 
for ordinary emergencies, and little or none, for 
trying occasions. The world is often at fault. 
Some have earned reputation who only merited 
infamy, while others are execrated with as little 
propriety. The visible evidence of character is 
often fugitive and uncertain. There are occasions 
in which the metal of the soul is severely tried: 
some giving proofs of an elevation for which they 
never received credit, while others belie the ex- 
pectations which their past conduct had inspired. 
The ordinary current of life is little qualified to 
draw out the secret tendencies of the heart ; and 
it may be said, as times of peril and excitement 
evince, that few exhibit a tithe of the qualities 
whether good or bad, which they are capable of 
displaying. Persons of superior energy, will 
start from the beaten track, with attributes that 
make them a misfortune or a blessing to their 
kind. Our position on earth indeed, affords 
ample scope for the utmost exertion of which we 
are capable, did not the prejudices of society in 
favour of qualities often anything but beneficial, 
prove a perpetual snare. The purification of 
public opinion however, and a juster appreciation 
of character, would lead the lofty and noble- 
hearted beings whom circumstances are con- 
tinually generating, to devote themselves to the 
welfare of mankind ; while the imperfect, vicious, 
and vacillating characters, with which the world 
is inundated, would more rarely abound. 



ON THE FEELINGS. 399 

I have thus concluded my observations on the 
leading passions of our nature, good as well as 
evil, and have endeavoured to shew the vast im- 
portance, and infinitely superior nature of the 
good affections. To be virtuous, we must feel as 
well as know : the disinterested love of what is 
good, is even more necessary than the love of 
goodness for the sake of the end — albeit the lat- 
ter is the source of the former. Habit also, must 
confirm and enforce virtue. No mere intellec- 
tual perception can equiponderate the influence 
of the affections. We might know on various 
occasions, that it was right to encounter death, 
and other real or supposed evils, but unless we 
felt it to be so, we could hardly resolve on the 
sacrifice. It is not enough to know our duty, we 
must also feel and love it. Under the impulse 
of affection, a woman, or a weak child even, will 
face perils before which hardy manhood quails. 
The patriot animated by the love of country, will 
perform prodigies of valour which no mere hire- 
ling could enact; and if he cannot conquer, he 
is willing to die. We incessantly complain of 
our lot, but our situation is susceptible of infinite 
amendment : the exercise of our faculties affords 
a satisfaction, superior perhaps, to that derived 
from any other source. Now it seems impossi- 
ble to secure this exercise, by any means short 
of those which our present position involves — 
surrounded as we are by pressing wants ; acted 
upon by the elements, as well as by the necessi- 
ties, the defects, and the passions of our fellows. 



400 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

We are rendered liable to evil that we may ob- 
tain good; and the pleasure-giving attributes of 
our species, as this world is arranged, could not 
have been so effectually promoted without the 
contingency of others of an opposite character. 
Even pain itself, the source of our never-ceasing, 
querulous lamentations, is most commonly the 
work of our own hands — of defective arrange- 
ments, gross inattention to the behests of nature, 
and neglected capabilities. In other respects, 
pain is one of the elements of virtue, as well as 
of pleasure itself. The painful, yet virtuous and 
allowable emotions of our souls, whether arising 
from earthly bereavements or the spectacle of the 
miseries of others, prepare us for our final trans- 
ition to a more abiding home, where further ideas, 
further emotions, and further duties, await us. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT — CONSCIENCE — THEORY 
OF VIRTUE, AND LANGUAGE OF PASSION. 



1. The moral judgment or conscience, is a 
case of complex association — of affections, feel- 
ings, habits, and ideas. Intellect, no less than 
feeling and affection, is concerned in its produc- 
tion. Decisions on most subjects, have been long 
recorded, so that every individual finds them 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 401 

ready for his purposes. Few venture to think 
for themselves; they adopt the current views 
peculiar to the sphere in which they move. The 
aggregate of these becomes their conscience, the 
dictates of which, they adhere to or disobey, as 
interest, passion, or principle, may prompt. Yet 
every one should try to dissect the canons of 
opinion for himself, and to appreciate the founda- 
tions on which they respectively rest. The very 
attempt, if perse veringly and judiciously made, 
imparts more or less ability. Each grants the 
propriety of examination, except in cases in which 
he is satisfied; an admission that subjects all 
opinions to the test, since all are variously held 
by fallible men. Truth indeed, might not be 
uniformly secured, but there would be a con- 
tinual approximation to it. 

Conscience, or the moral judgment, is not 
innate ; it is the result of experience, habit, asso- 
ciation, and feeling. It does not come into the 
world with us, but takes its complexion from the 
circumstances in which we are placed, acting on 
our natural capabilities, and generating the vari- 
ous habits, ideas, emotions, and energies, by which 
as human beings, we are characterized. In every 
way, it is made up of matters of daily occurrence, 
worldly, and worldlike ; what then, could have 
produced it in the silent womb? The innate 
origin has been supposed to indicate the will of the 
Deity as implanted in the human breast ; the 
existence of the same capabilities however, in every 
man, and the universal formation of conscience 

c c 



402 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

under given circumstances, equally testify his de- 
termination. Truth can be no degradation ; and 
before we allege the designs of Providence as an 
argument, we must first determine whether the 
fact which they are brought to support, be correct. 
The doctrine of innate emotions, by assuming 
their congenital existence, militates against edu- 
cation and moral training ; and by asserting the 
occasional existence of evil tendencies at birth, 
runs counter to religion and morality, contradicts 
our better feelings and the dictates of our under- 
standings, and diminishes their joint utility as 
guides under God, for the maintenance and 
security of virtue and happiness. 

Conscience is perfect or imperfect, as good or 
bad feelings, correct or incorrect representations, 
predominate. That of the same individual is capa- 
ble of various phases ; while the maximum of ex- 
cellence is singularly diversified. The great 
land-marks of right and wrong are more or less 
appreciated by all ; yet some will commit actions 
with self-approval, that are really pernicious, and 
which persons of more correct principles, would 
scorn to perpetrate. Even the feelings connected 
with the same duties, are differently experienced 
by those who recognize them as equally binding. 
How desirable it is, that conscience should be 
upright in all, and regulated by those eternal 
principles of truth and justice, which are made to 
flow from the constitution that has been imparted 
to us? The history of mankind proves that it 
has varied with the moral and intellectual cultiva- 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 403 

tion of nations and individuals, and that to this, 
its further progress must be owing. All civiliza- 
tion is comparative: the most barbarous tribes 
are not more inferior to the most elevated, than 
are the latter, to what all must one day become ; 
and both from the operation of similar causes. 
Nature's provisions for securing a good con- 
science, and averting a bad, are numerous and 
effective. First, there is the pleasure connected 
with the superior, and the pain which attends the 
inferior affections. The bad man sympathizes 
with evil, and is pained by good ; while the good 
man takes pleasure in what is good, and is pained 
at evil. The malevolent satisfaction of the former, 
both as to frequency and intensity, is less than 
the benevolent delight of the latter; while the 
misery which the one suffers from the gratification 
of his passions, is infinitely greater than any un- 
happiness which can befal the other in the dis- 
charge of his duties. No particular instances of 
the adversity of the good, or the prosperity of the 
wicked, can invalidate the general rule, which 
must subsist so long as virtue and vice continue 
what they are. Happiness does not reside in 
wealth or power, nor is misery unavoidable in the 
absence of both. The former mainly consists in 
the proper regulation of the ideas and feelings. 
This may be done whether in adversity or pros- 
perity, and with it there cannot be lasting un- 
happiness, nor without it, true dignity. Nature 
is no respecter of persons : she relentlessly levels 
the petty distinctions which we would vainly 



404 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

oppose to her behests. The vicious man though 
garbed in splendour, is unable to purchase the 
felicity which dwells unsolicited, in the abode of 
virtuous poverty. 

A correct moral judgment, furnishing as it does 
an instant guide to conduct, yields enormous ad- 
vantages. An individual who has fortified his 
judgment, and purified his principles, by assidu- 
ous cultivation and frequent reflection, will be 
infinitely better provided than one who takes his 
opinions, just as they happen to be suggested, 
from others. The former can easily amend his 
conclusions, but the latter is at the mercy of 
every prejudice. If habit, education, and long 
association, yield such a scope to error, of what 
service must they not prove in the cause of truth ? 
It requires a powerful effort to cast aside the de- 
lusions of early life, while the disruption occasions 
a kind of violence to our nature. How incalcu- 
lable then, the advantages, if truth were incul- 
cated on the minds of all from infancy. Thus 
instilled, and enforced by the acts, the associa- 
tions, and the affections of childhood and youth, 
it would receive the sanction of mature age never 
to be erased or forgotten. And thus, the mighty 
empire of the breast, invigorated and nourished 
by continual accessions of truth and excellence, 
would increase and flourish until revolving time 
had accomplished our earthly destiny, and pre- 
pared our souls for an expansion which our pre- 
sent career is not intended to realize. 

It is wonderful, yet true, that elementary 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 405 

combinations so perishable and transitory as 
those which go to make up the body, should be 
the agents whereby ideas and feelings are pro- 
duced, that can never die. Mind alone, is impe- 
rishable—matter indeed, preserves an elementary 
perpetuity, but its forms are fleeting and imper- 
manent as the wind. The reflection that in hu- 
man organization and its various adaptations, a 
beautiful and effective arrangement exists all over 
the peopled earth, for realizing an instant im- 
provement, fills the mind with wonder and admi- 
ration, alloyed indeed, by an emotion of deep 
regret, when we consider the magnificent results 
to which this arrangement might be made sub- 
servient, and how little has been done to render 
it so. The moral judgment is continually pro- 
gressive — in infancy non-existent, in childhood 
feeble, in youth vacillating, and in manhood 
formed. If we consider the slow advances of the 
heart and intellect, but more particularly of the 
latter, the cause of the foregoing will be obvious. 
In children, by a munificent Providence, the 
feelings are sufficiently awakened to become con- 
nected with the different duties of which their 
tender age permits the performance. It is an 
after effort to develop the foundation of these du- 
ties, but in the mean time, childhood may be 
trained to love and revere them. The moral 
judgment is not a single indivisible faculty, but 
one made up of many particulars, all resolvable 
into feeling and judgment. It is developed at 
various periods, as the development of the intel- 



406 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

lect and affections is early or late. The moral 
man may never be formed, or it may be to the 
imperfect extent which characterizes the great 
majority of living men. When the affections and 
intellectual powers however, are eliminated in the 
natural order, and improved by exercise and cul- 
tivation, the advance of the moral judgment is 
co-ordinate. The feelings and affections are 
progressive, consequently the moral judgments 
which they sanction, and of which indeed, they 
are integral parts, must be equally so. Filial 
love is first developed, then the love of God, of 
friends, of nature, of wife, of child, and of man- 
kind. During the production of these affections, 
various others, such as the love of justice, of mo- 
rality, and of truth, are successively generated. 
Although children may employ the language in- 
dicative of them, it is impossible by any amount 
of early culture, to realize beyond a certain ex- 
tent, the capabilities or the acquirements of after 
life. The great object is to attend to everything 
in its place, and to secure the effectual reception 
of every desirable quality at the proper period. 
Were this done, we should not witness multi- 
tudes of individuals, with, the outward form and 
bearing of men, but inwardly maimed and defec- 
tive. Nature will not wait for us — if we do not 
secure the opportunity at the fitting moment, it 
passes away, and so far as this world is concerned, 
is lost for ever. Much of our intellectual pro- 
gress is contingent on the passions — every affec- 
tion and every feeling lend an impulse to mind. 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 407 

Most men however, after a certain period, aban- 
don the cultivation of their intellect ; hence it is 
not surprising that it should retrograde, or that 
hebetude and imbecility should replace the se- 
rene and piercing sagacity of old age. How is 
it to be expected that faculties should retain an 
activity, for the promotion of which, almost every 
provision has long ceased to be made ? Mankind 
will never become what they ought, until their 
capabilities are developed from the earliest pe- 
riod. Prescriptive morality alone, is insufficient. 
Every one so soon as his faculties permit, should 
know the basis of his duties ; a species of infor- 
mation, to the inculcation of which, every other 
should be made subservient. 

In fine, the moral judgment, whether as re- 
gards the intellect or the affections, is formed by 
natural causes — by the influence of God's works 
and those of man — by our own efforts and those 
of others. Our feelings and affections, no less 
than our sensations and ideas, are owing to ordi- 
nary agencies; it is impossible even for one to 
exist, of which these are not the sole origin. Our 
moral judgments are intellectual conclusions 
united with certain feelings ; once produced and 
existing in the mind, they are called up and re- 
gulated by the usual laws of association. The 
course of nature, no less with the moral, than the 
physical world, is never departed from. We feel 
assured that the wise and good can never lose 
the feelings and ideas which render them so, and 
that the wicked and ignorant cannot cease to be 



408 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

thus, without the employment of proper means. 
It is evident that the regulations which the Deity 
has laid down for our guidance and protec- 
tion, are the very best that could be devised. 
Our interest lies in observing them, nor could 

o 7 

their Divine Originator ever will their infraction. 
Were that to be obtained as a gift, which we en- 
joy as a reward, we should cease to strive. We 
are placed in a certain situation — we are afforded 
means and opportunities, and then left to our- 
selves. If we would reap good, or avoid evil, we 
must owe it to our own exertions — our happi- 
ness, if we would obtain it, must be the work of 
our own hands. Every form and condition of 
human feeling and human passion, are produced 
and regulated by undeviating, and never-ceasing 
laws, from which there is no appeal. In all the 
varying relations of humanity, we see the one 
constant rule — if we would be happy, if we would 
be wise, if we would be virtuous, we must make 
ourselves acquainted with, and abide by it. 

2, Virtue and vice as names, are abstract terms. 
The former is the collective title of the superior 
feelings, conceptions, and acts of mankind, as well 
as of the happiness flowing from the possession of 
the one, and the practice of the other. It also 
extends to the painful feelings and acts required 
by faultless conduct, and to all the contingent 
immolations, bereavements, and self-sacrifices. 
Vice is the collective title or abstraction, of the 
inferior acts and feelings of mankind, as well as 
of the pains and pleasures contingent on the 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 409 

practice of iniquity. This world has been so 
ordered, that virtue is not always productive of 
material well-being ; but infinite wisdom has se- 
cured to the good man feelings and a conscience, 
the possession of which, amply compensates the 
absence of outward fortune. If we place an 
unflagging trust in our Maker, that he will do 
everything for the best, and that the crosses and 
the trials to which this our earthly life subjects 
us, are but parts of a mighty whole, the eventual 
result of which, is to produce the greatest sum of 
virtue and happiness, here and hereafter, how is 
it possible for us to experience cureless misery or 
distrust, let what will befal? We must often feel 
bitter grief and sorrow for a time, for precious 
sympathies cannot be loosened with impunity; 
but neither can be permanent, when we know 
that it is the precursor of great and lasting good. 
Were existence indeed, to pause with this world 
— were there no compensation hereafter, well 
might we be miserable and comfortless. The 
living earth with all its glories, would be but 
dust and corruption without this precious con- 
summation, which so sure as God exists, and is 
good and just, must ensue. The ill-informed 
then, and the weak of heart, owe their unhappi- 
ness to their defects, and to the insufficient culti- 
vation of those virtuous energies, the full pos- 
session of which is a shield against every evil. 
There are not enough of comforters and instruc- 
tors in the world. The task of self-purification is 
often slow and painful; and many a one who 



410 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

with a little help, might have gone on with cer- 
tainty and success, without it, faints and perishes 
by the way. It is beautiful to observe how virtue 
in all times, has testified for herself; how par- 
takers of every creed have shewn by their conduct, 
that their principles were correct. Assuredly, 
she must increase and flourish among men, as 
knowledge and moral training themselves, shall 
increase and flourish. 

A multitude of pens have sought to pervert 
the nature of virtue — to chain her down to certain 
professions — to a given belief — to acts independent 
of feelings, and to feelings independent of acts ; 
but however obscured for a while, she invariably 
emerges with unsullied purity, from the attempt. 
Virtue is not difficult of comprehension to pure 
hearts and unbiassed minds. Those who are 
possessed of deep feelings, disinterested affections, 
the love of God, respect for self, and respect for 
others, charity and self-denial, are also possessed 
of her. All the excellencies of our nature are 
promoted by antagonist qualities. How could 
there be virtue without the liability to err, re- 
sistance, when there was no temptation, and 
energy, without ends to be attained, or obstacles 
to be overcome? The storms, the evils, and the 
turmoils of the moral, no less than of the physical 
world, are productive of qualities calculated to 
meet and subdue them. It is desirable to be ex- 
posed to no dangers greater than we have 
strength to surmount; this however, has been 
attended to by the Divine Architect, for there is 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 411 

no hindrance so great, that our faculties if pro- 
perly cultivated, will not be adequate to cope 
with it. To have subjected us to difficulties with 
which we were rendered impotent to grapple, 
could never be the intention or the work of a 
benevolent and all-powerful Being, who could not 
place his creatures in a situation that would not 
tend to their eventual benefit. The innate capa- 
bilities of our nature, cannot be developed with- 
out the agency of powerfully operating causes, 
and such as everywhere abound. We are not 
indeed, to suppose that the disorders which 
abound in the moral world are to continue for 
ever ; but if they are to be removed, it must be 
by the exercise of virtue, the only remedy for 
earthly ills. Perfection perhaps, is unattainable 
on earth, yet assuredly, a state of things must 
arise, that will be as perfection itself, compared 
with the present. We are not to anticipate the 
dreaming innocence and security which poets 
have painted, but that superior condition which 
is derived from the dissemination of knowledge, 
and the practical cultivation of our moral and 
intellectual energies. Man cannot otherwise 
secure his happiness, nor is it possible for him to 
arrive at a position that will exonerate him from 
strenuous and sustained exertion. The remi- 
niscence of past evils doubtless, will operate as a 
continual incentive to avoid a repetition of them ; 
but even so, it is doubtful whether the world will 
ever attain to a pitch of perfection so great, as to 
present no infractions of the moral law. 



412 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

The benefits flowing from the practice of virtue, 
do not always accrue to the full extent at once. 
The world's standard, which measures good and 
ill by the amount of outward possessions, is falla- 
cious. Human dignity does not reside in material, 
but in moral riches ; this however, is a truth that 
must be felt to be known. It is an error to deny 
the utility of external conveniencies ; but these 
are as one to infinity, compared with the qualities 
of the heart and understanding. A man may 
enjoy unbounded wealth, yet be characterized 
by every vice that degrades humanity. That 
riches will not ward off all the miseries of life, is 
a truth too trite to be insisted on; they are 
among the agents of happiness, though in them- 
selves, wholly impotent to produce it. That the 
practice of virtue however, is most favourable 
even to material advantages, does not admit a 
doubt; but that as things are, it is frequently 
otherwise, is no less certain. It is founded on 
the existence and moral attributes of the Deity, 
that virtue, if not in this world, at least in the 
next, must be productive of happiness. If indeed, 
there were no other, the pleasure which accom- 
panies the pursuit, would yield a sufficient incite- 
ment ; but the sanction is prodigiously enhanced 
by the existence of another state of being, wherein 
knowledge and virtue shall go on progressively 
and for ever, and where the practice of the one, 
and the acquisition of the other, shall prove 
sources of unceasing happiness. The evils to 
which virtue sometimes subjects its profession in 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 413 

this world,and the desirableness of afuture,reposing 
as it does, on the wisdom and goodness of God, 
together yield a sum of evidence, which if it do 
not amount to actual certainty, at least approaches 
indefinitely near to it. However the intellectual 
proof may fail, that which is drawn from the 
heart and affections, is wholly conclusive. These 
repose with full conviction upon the boundless 
love of the universal Parent, and taken along 
with the intellectual proof, yield a sum of evi- 
dence that is altogether unassailable. We are 
often required to forego outward advantages, of 
which others less scrupulous, do not hesitate to 
avail themselves ; while our constancy is tested 
by poverty, undeserved obloquy, and other inflic- 
tions. These are the price of excellence, and 
we cannot expect to obtain the one, if we with- 
hold the other. In fine, the practice of virtue is 
ensured by the happiness immediately flowing 
from the feelings which attend it, and, con- 
tingently, by the end or reward, which in this 
world or the next, it is sure to realize. 

Intellect without feeling, is but an insufficient 
prop of virtue; the one however, requires the 
perpetual assistance of the other. This is shewn 
in that important particular of moral conduct, by 
which we incur present pain to secure a prepon- 
derance of future good, or it may be, to satisfy 
the disinterested love of virtue. If reason did 
not demonstrate that the path of virtue most re- 
dounded to eventual happiness and utility, the 
heart alone, would be unable to discriminate. It 



414 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

is a noble spectacle, and one worthy of our bet- 
ter nature, to witness a conscientious individual 
incurring every form of pain and suffering in con- 
formity with the dictates of principle. No amount 
of present inconvenience — no infliction, can appal 
the courage of such a one, or deter him from 
the performance of his duty. It is indeed, the 
acme of sublimity, when a human being delibe- 
rately seals with his blood, his unassailable con- 
fidence in the blessed principles of religion and 
truth. These he loves with a love that nothing 
can subdue, and which alone, were there no ulte- 
rior recompense, would prove an ample reward. 
How firm must be the convictions of such a man 
— how unspeakable his confidence in the justice 
of God, when he is thus enabled to submit with- 
out repining, to the utmost assaults of tyranny 
and iniquity, and to pass the threshold of the 
nameless future as opened to him by a violent 
death, not only without sorrow or regret, but 
with cheerfulness and joy? Such however, are 
among the merciful and precious provisions of 
that Providence, which adapts all things to our 
capabilities ; and which, if it subjects us to mighty 
evils, also provides us with equal powers of en- 
durance. 

The disinterested feelings and affections are 
among the most powerful supports of virtue; 
without their aid, the most enlightened appreci- 
ation of the superior advantages flowing from 
wisdom and excellence, would not suffice. They 
yield a continual reward, in return for acts that 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 415 

may be attended with bodily suffering or priva- 
tion. There are even whole classes of mental 
pleasures, the gratification of which, we sacrifice 
to some dictate of principle or morality, but for 
the loss of which, we are amply compensated by 
the exquisite feelings accruing from the perform- 
ance of duty. The good man is well assured that 
his suffering is only for the moment, and that 
however great the passing pang, his lasting hap- 
piness will be all the greater for having endured 
it. Duty will lead the patriot to quit wife and 
child, and to lay down life in the defence of his 
country, while it equally impels the man of 
probity, to bear with cheerfulness and resigna- 
tion, the inflictions and bereavements to which 
all are subject. A stony indifference is neither 
desirable nor necessary; and though we must 
know and feel that they cannot last, tears and 
bitter grief are not the less fitting accompani- 
ments, for the loss of friends whom we shall 
never meet on earth again. If indeed, a subdued 
and gentle sorrow were not induced by the hand 
of time, we should be utterly incapacitated for 
the business of life ; and however much we may 
deem our sufferings unappeasable, the daily cur- 
rent of existence compels our attention, and draws 
a portion of our consciousness to other thoughts 
and other feelings. In short, it may be asserted 
that there are no inflictions whether of body or 
mind, which the love of virtue will not enable us 
to endure. It is desirable however, that the 
knowledge and appreciation of duty, should ac- 



416 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

company our affection for it, since, when these 
are united with the habitual practice, no evil will 
be able to overcome our constancy. 

It is a vital error in those who would substitute 
an intellectual perception of the utilities of virtue, 
in place of the love of it, as a spring of action. 
No psychological fact can be more certain, than 
that there may be an habitual adherence to mo- 
rality, in persons who have never examined the 
foundations on which it rests. Assuredly, every 
duty can be shewn to have a basis which justifies 
it, but it is erroneous to say that it is not influ- 
ential, unless this is perceived. The feelings 
which constitute the love of virtue, inasmuch as 
they singularly promote it, require cultivation 
for their own sake, as a branch of moral duty. 
Every one should be intimately conversant with 
whatever may affect the interests of others, in 
order to guide his conduct and affections ; but to 
be regulated by these, is nevertheless, the highest 
and best spring of action. The adoration, love, 
and reverence, which we owe the Supreme Being, 
afford motives superior to those which are sug- 
gested by the contemplation of the advantages 
accruing from submission to his will; although 
at the same time, it is infinitely important that 
we should know how to act in perfect sub- 
servience to it, as well as entertain an intimate 
conviction of the benefits induced by our con- 
formity. To minds less highly developed, the 
hope of a reward will be a good, though inferior 
impulse. The appreciation of the evils arising 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 417 

from the infringement of duty, is a motive still 
lower, yet one which the present defective culti- 
vation of human nature, renders necessary. In 
every case indeed, it is desirable that these should 
be minutely known to us, not so much as motives, 
as a guide to what is right, and a beacon to what 
is wrong. If we are not acquainted with what 
constitutes virtue, how can we follow — how can 
we love it? Too much of the recorded, as well 
as of the existing conduct of mankind, has been 
a tissue of error and of crime, and consequently, 
affords ample warning. It would indeed, seem 
necessary, that man should work out his final 
purification by his own experience of good and 
ill, and that he should be gradually led by suc- 
cessive steps, from the supremacy of inferior 
motives, to that exalted condition in which the 
love of excellence as a spring of conduct, shall 
wholly influence him. These remarks hold good 
with regard to all the better principles of our 
nature; and the pre-eminence in every case, of 
the higher feelings and affections, cannot be too 
often, or too earnestly insisted on. The advanta- 
ges which decide its superiority, should indeed, 
lay a foundation for the love of virtue in every 
form ; but it is most certain, that this love itself, 
eventually becomes an infinitely stronger motive. 
It should be the never-ceasing effort of the 
moralist, the legislator, and the philanthropist, to 
inculcate and promote upon every occasion, by 
appeals to both heart and understanding, this 
precious, this admirable principle, the foundation 

D D 



418 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

of everything that is heart-elevating and enno- 
bling in our nature. 

3. There is one condition that has perplexed 
inquirers, but which, with a little attention, may 
be readily cleared up ; I mean that in which 
virtue is appreciated, but in which evil is preferred. 
To see the better path, and yet to choose the 
worse, has been a reproach since morality has 
engaged human attention. It has been remarked 
that the intellectual perception of truth, is not 
sufficient to secure our assent; but the principle 
has been carried too far, when it is argued that 
knowledge and morality are wholly distinct. 
What is the situation of the person who follows 
evil, yet knowing its nature ? His knowledge 
of the moral law is neither deep nor accurate; 
his habits are defective, and above all, his love of 
virtue is feeble or absent. He is addicted to 
base propensities and inferior interests, nor is 
truth his pursuit. Such a condition however, 
admits of numerous modifications, from slight and 
occasional aberrations, to villany the most con- 
summate. Evil is gradual and deceptive in its 
progress. The victim involved in its meshes, 
hopes or believes that he will be able to escape ; 
but the period of liberation never arrives, and the 
efforts that might have served to free him at first, 
prove no longer of any avail. Thus carried 
along from rock to rock, and from shoal to shoal, 
by the swiftly-increasing current, he is buried at 
last in the gulfs of perdition. Individuals have 
different degrees of moral strength — that is to 



ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 419 

say, their habits, feelings, and knowledge, vary. 
No one is required to cast himself in the way of 
temptation. Before we incur avoidable risk, it 
is expedient to weigh our strength, and to act 
accordingly. How many have been plunged into 
the depths of sin and misery, by incautiously 
venturing within the sphere of attractions, which 
they falsely imagined they were able to resist? 
It is better to avoid temptation unless perfectly 
assured of our ability to withstand it ; but when 
the mind has been properly trained, the habit of 
resisting evil, increases the power. The world 
however, is a rough teacher, and will not always 
graduate its trials to the powers of those who are 
to incur them; hence it is, that while some 
surmount them, others are swept away and de- 
stroyed. All should be carefully instructed from 
the earliest period; while the study of moral 
causation should form a prominent part of educa- 
tion. The same results would not then be ex- 
pected from different causes; society would be 
better arranged, and changes would be induced 
not less advantageous to the individual, than to 
the mass. 

4. Tears, sighs, exclamations, and attitudes of 
sorrow, are marks of grief — as laughter, smiles, 
and cheerful tones, are the language of joy. 
Each emotion, whether good or evil, has its ap- 
propriate expression; how much this is calcu- 
lated to promote happiness, and contingently, to 
favour the cause of virtue, will be obvious at a 
glance. Human intercourse would be defective 



420 ON THE MORAL JUDGMENT. 

indeed, were it destitute of the joys which are 
shed upon it by the display of the different feel- 
ings and affections. The outward aspect of the 
lover of virtue, promotes its reception on the 
part of others. Were love, sorrow, joy, and 
every feeling which virtue combines, even to 
continue, how much would happiness be dimin- 
ished by the absence of the signs which now 
attend them? Without these, the communings 
of affection, of sympathy, of sorrow, and of joy, 
would be in a manner cut off; while the arts 
which are derived from their multiplication and 
transfer, would exist no more. Genius, that pre- 
cious condition which sheds innumerable rays of 
pleasure upon all within the sphere of its influ- 
ence, would never be awakened. Neither could 
we have the frequent bursts of kindling emotion 
which flow from the passionate display of virtue 
and self-sacrifice. We should be a plodding and 
an apathetic race, devoid of those numerous 
graces and refinements, which gild existence with 
nameless delights. Is not all this a glorious ma- 
nifestation of surpassing goodness, ever solicitous 
to promote human happiness; and does it not 
infer that the world which is to come, will exhibit 
to a degree still higher than this, other means of 
testifying the love, the emotions, and the tender 
feelings, which must characterize beings who are 
to exist throughout eternity? 



421 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES ON THE 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PASSIONS, FEELINGS, AND 
MORAL PRINCIPLES. 



1. The influence of circumstances on the moral 
man is indeed enormous. There is perhaps no 
individual in whom passion is wholly extinct ; but 
short of this, circumstances are adequate to the 
production of every variety that the world has 
hitherto seen. It will be obvious that while some 
situations promote, others retard the development 
of the heart and moral faculties. Nature has 
provided certain means for evolving both, but 
she leaves their employment in our own keeping. 
If we second her intentions, the result will be 
favourable, but not otherwise. Purity and inno- 
cence alone, are not adequate to the wants of ex- 
istence, or calculated to bear the wear and tear 
of daily life. Elevated conceptions, noble views, 
and energetic determinations, must be added, 
otherwise the better purposes of our being are 
not to be achieved. Let us take nature indeed, 
for our guide, but let us multiply to the utmost, 
the facilities which she has placed within our 
reach. The one design is equally visible in the 
physical, the intellectual, and the moral world. 
We everywhere witness a necessity for exertion, 



422 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

and everywhere behold the same happiness, im- 
provement, and energy, not less from the efforts 
made use of, than from the ends which they are 
intended to realize. The fields untilled, will not 
produce the yellow corn — the uncultivated intel- 
lect cannot lay up stores of knowledge — nor will 
the heart reap spontaneous virtue or excellence. 
Human capabilities have never been duly evolved. 
In what part of the world indeed, or in what por- 
tion of society, shall we observe men and women 
brought up as they ought? Almost everywhere, 
the infant mind is more or less imbued with error 
and prejudice, if not with actual vice. There is 
no sufficient gradation in the development of the 
faculties ; things are taught that ought not to be 
taught, and others omitted that ought not to be 
omitted. While again, faculties are developed, 
that should be left quiescent, and others suffered 
to remain in disuetude, that should be cultivated. 
As to the heart, it is not properly dealt with; 
sympathies with our species and with the world, 
and love and veneration for the Creator, are in- 
adequately inspired. Where there should be 
self-respect, elevated feeling, energy, and enlight- 
enment, there are too often ignorance, meanness, 
and grovelling sentiments. When by a rare con- 
tingency, we have succeeded in throwing off the 
error and moral torpor which oppress our ear- 
lier years, we have already lost the greater por- 
tion of our active life. The period that should 
be employed in laying the foundation, and in 
perfecting the superstructure, has passed away. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 423 

Time and faculties have been squandered al- 
most in vain ; and while we should be reaping 
the harvest, we are pulling up the weeds, and 
preparing the soil for the seed which may never 
arrive at maturity. So the seasons of life are 
perverted — the business of the spring is not done 
till the summer is far advanced, and the stunted 
produce is gathered midst the storms and chills 
of winter. It will not do — the work of youth 
must be done in youth, and of manhood in man- 
hood; the efforts of the one are not adapted to 
the strength of the other, any more than the 
energies of adult life are suited to the declining 
powers of advanced age. It is the part of child- 
hood and youth to learn — of man's estate to think 
and act, and of old age to reflect and to teach. 
Even among those who know better, and who 
would rear their children to knowledge and ex- 
cellence, how are they to proceed? Where are 
they to obtain teachers or domestics of incorrup- 
tible probity — how are they to create anew, a 
moral atmosphere of untainted purity, amid the 
young and old among whom their offspring are 
to inhale their first impressions ; how are they to 
regulate the events of after life, or avert the du- 
plicity, the ignorance, the folly, the sensuality, 
and the superstitions, of a degraded and per- 
verted world? Far be it from me to deny the 
good, but in this place I allude to the defects, not 
to the excellencies with which it abounds. After 
all, each must do the best he can. If imperfect 
circumstances exercise a control which we can- 



424 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

not wholly evade, there are none whose influence 
may not in some degree, be mitigated. Human 
progress cannot be instantaneous ; if each would 
do the good which lies in his power, much might 
be effected, while the general consummation of 
knowledge and virtue would be accelerated. 

As has been already stated with regard to the 
development of the intellect, the evolution of the 
moral principles hinges upon two great classes of 
circumstances — those which depend upon others, 
and those which depend upon ourselves. With 
the exception of the appliances and capabilities 
furnished by nature, it will be manifest that these 
two classes include every existing agency. The 
influence of others is included under the heads 
of society, government, religion, and education; 
that which rests with ourselves, is involved in the 
efforts which we make to secure our intellectual 
and moral improvement, and to maintain our fa- 
culties in habitual activity. It is certain that our 
development depends no less on others than on 
ourselves. The results produced by the former 
however, constitute a continually ascending point 
of departure for individual exertions. Every one 
should use his utmost efforts to advance the gene- 
ral sum of knowledge, and to appropriate the 
acquirements of others. These, we should feel 
with our hearts, and appreciate with our under- 
standings; yet how few are true to their own 
interests — how few elicit fully, the admirable 
capabilities of their nature ? If people could only 
be convinced of the efficacy of continual striving, 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 425 

what might not be done to improve the moral and 
intellectual man? But they will not strive, and 
too frequently they have not the wish to do so. 
Could it be but firmly impressed on the minds of 
all, that with exertion, all things lay open to 
them, how much might be effected? Our aspi- 
rations after wisdom and excellence are smothered 
by a thousand circumstances; and of those who 
are actuated by the desire, how frequently are 
their impulses blighted by the erroneous convic- 
tion of insuperable obstacles ? 

Intellectual cultivation to be effective, must go 
hand in hand with moral. The first impulse to 
improvement, is the necessity of providing for our 
physical wants. It might be expected that every 
situation would more or less evolve the better 
principles of humanity, but it is not so. In the 
present stage of social intercourse, the agents 
which after the operation of nature, most affect 
character, are undoubtedly those derived from 
mankind themselves. Human beings subject one 
another to a multitude of deteriorating influences, 
which might all be avoided. Humanity is insuf- 
ficiently respected ; titles, riches, and other tran- 
sitory possessions, are objects of veneration, to 
the neglect of more precious endowments. It 
is not to sympathize with the man, if we regard 
him but as the recipient of money, dignity, or 
power. The possessor of these is more frequently 
wrapt up in the contemplation of their vulgar 
tendencies, than in his command over the feelings, 
thoughts, and affections, of his fellows. What is 



426 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

all this, but to remove us from the consideration 
of our immortal nature, to that of things which 
are infinitely inferior ? The rich revel in luxury, 
while the poor are ground down by poverty: 
either of which situations is abundantly un- 
favourable to the production of an elevated 
morality. This is sufficiently proved by the 
absence of superior culture; by the ignorance 
and pr oneness to crime which often subsist among 
the one, and by the apathy and sensuality which 
too frequently attend the other. For do the rich 
sympathize with the poor; are they mindful of 
their situation, or do they feel for them as for 
brothers and sisters inhabiting the same vale of 
mortality, and possessed of boundless, but ne- 
glected capabilities? 

I. Governments are abstractions of popular 
power; owing their existence to it, but acting 
independently. Their influence on morality, 
though of a mixed and inferior nature, is very 
great. It is enough to excite mournful reflections, 
when we consider what governments might do, and 
what they omit doing; how education is limited 
and perverted, and how the diffusion of know- 
ledge is shackled and restricted. If they repre- 
sented the enlightenment of the community, these 
things could not be. It is a problem worthy of 
solution, how it happens that the governments of 
Europe and of the world, exert an almost irre- 
sponsible power; or how it is, that everywhere 
the best interests of the many, are more or less 
misunderstood and opposed? How long is this 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 427 

state of things to last, or when shall governments 
concentrate their energies for the common en- 
lightenment and happiness of mankind? It is 
difficult to propagate truth without enlisting un- 
der the banners of a party ; but can there not be 
the party of humanity — a party advocating with- 
out restraint, the principles which concern the 
well-being of our race? Among the inferior 
passions, truth and excellence have a fierce and 
implacable opponent in party-feeling. Even the 
powerful enginery of governments is controlled 
by its agency. In mischief-working however, it 
must yield to fanaticism, which at times, is an 
epitome of everything that is base. When the 
two are combined, iniquities the most demora- 
lizing, result. It is not that these vices are so 
destructive in themselves, as that they become 
the vehicle and the pretext for personal enmity, 
and every form of human malignity. Truly, if 
humanity prove noble and admirable under some 
aspects, it is base and despicable under others. 
How then, shall we adequately denounce those 
destructive qualities, that convert the milk of 
human kindness into gall and bitterness, and sow 
the heart with sin and misery ? Party -feeling in 
its worst features, is indeed a wide remove from 
that rational and benevolent patriotism which 
wills and works the good of all — of family, coun- 
try, and humanity. Not less different is fanati- 
cism from the pure and blessed spirit of religion, 
which unites unbounded reverence and submis- 
sion towards the Deity, with the all-enduring and 



428 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

inexhaustible love of mankind. As party-feeling 
impedes and limits the progress of rational im- 
provement, so superstition, irreligion, and immo- 
rality bar the progress of the soul towards ex- 
cellence. Moral and religious truth has been 
uniformly opposed by the powers of evil, so often 
as they have been awakened to a perception and 
a dread, of its existence and utility. We are not 
to estimate the force of this opposition, so much 
by its open, as by its concealed attacks — by its 
direct, as by its insidious influences. Hence it 
is, that multitudes who have partly perceived the 
truth, are driven back into the regions of obscu- 
rity and error ; while those who have attained to 
its comparatively full perception, remain silent. 
Thus, a false and spurious conformity created by 
apprehensions of persecution, enmity, and the loss 
of the means of support, has blighted in part, the 
testimony of the advocates of truth, and retarded 
for a time, the needful progress of mankind. 

II. Of all the means whereby we are enabled 
to modify the condition of our fellows, education 
is the most powerful. If its importance be con- 
fessedly great, with regard to the physical and 
mental, it is not less so with respect to the moral 
man. It is necessarily the most influential agent, 
inasmuch as it includes and modifies all others. 
This is evident if we consider how soon character 
begins to be formed, and how rarely first impres- 
sions are afterwards obliterated. If goodness 
and truth are hard to imbibe at later periods, and 
if they continue for ever, when firmly implanted 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 429 

in youth, of what unspeakable consequence is it, 
that the affections and moral judgments — those 
bulwarks of our nobler nature, should be culti- 
vated from the earliest moments of awakened 
perception? In all the relations of life—as citi- 
zen, father, friend, and man, they must render the 
individual superior. Oh, how desirable it is, 
that those admirable qualities — those most sweet 
and precious sympathies of which we are so sus- 
ceptible, should never be suffered to lie dormant? 
What might we not become, and what are we? 
Assuredly, the qualities that would convert earth 
into the abode of peace and happiness, and ap- 
proximate us to the condition of superior beings, 
are worthy of the zealous attention of each and 
all. It is impossible for language adequately to 
express the overwhelming importance of moral 
instruction, or to insist sufficiently, on the culture 
of the feelings and affections. Yes, I say it 
emphatically, it is not on intellect or on the gra- 
tifications of sense, that our felicity must depend ; 
it is on the development of the heart and under- 
standing, in every direction in which it has been 
given to them by the Supreme Controller of ex- 
istence, to expand — in devotion to Him, in love 
to our fellows, in self-respect, and in disinterested 
attachment to all the virtues of our nature. 
These are the possessions which yield comfort in 
living, and peace in dying ; and as they best con- 
duce to our well-being and usefulness in this 
existence, so it is undoubted, that they must also 
best prepare us to encounter the more extended 
scenes and duties of an existence to come. 



430 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

The principal advantages of education, are 
preparatory to self-action ; in other words, to the 
production of that energy, the possession of which, 
is so great a good. The value of what has been 
so emphatically styled the education of life, alters 
with the state of public enlightenment and public 
opinion. The latter singularly varies in different 
ages, and periods of civilization. Practices, re- 
garded at one time with approbation or indiffer- 
ence, come to be looked upon at another, with 
scorn and indignation. It is very unlikely that 
the people of Geneva will again permit a sectarian 
partisan to burn an unoffending opponent, or 
that the inhabitants of Paris will a second time 
lend their aid, while a bigot king fusillades his 
innocent subjects from his palace windows. The 
sacrifices of the Inquisition have ceased, it is to be 
hoped, for ever; and it may be presumed that 
the period will come round, when intellectual, 
moral, and religious knowledge, will get the better 
of all the cruel and fanatical observances, that 
yet abound on earth. Man is a marvellous 
creature — superior training exalts him into a 
being worthy of admiration and love, while the 
contrary, has an equal tendency to sink him be- 
neath the brute. Still he is man, and whether 
immersed in the mire of ignorance and supersti- 
tion, or elevated to the conception and the practice 
of religion and morality, we cannot but feel the 
most lively interest in his welfare. How much 
then, must his moral purity and elevation depend 
upon the circumstances in which he is placed, 
and the condition of society in which he is cast? 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 431 

This last indeed, as we must ever repeat, is the 
home of man. It is in society that human ex- 
cellence must wax or wane; in which it is to 
receive its highest impulses, and experience 
opportunities for realizing the golden harvest 
which constitutes our greatest happiness. Even 
the love which we bear to the Supreme, is no 
exception. Doubtless, the adoration of the heart 
will pour itself forth with fervour and sweetness, 
in secrecy and retirement ; but whether we offer 
up the tribute of our devotion and our thankful- 
ness in the majestic presence of nature, or in that 
of impassioned thousands, the first impulse must 
flow alike, from the fostering care, the sympathy, 
and the instruction of others. 

There are numerous accidental circumstances 
which lie equally beyond the reach of anticipation 
or control, but which modify character, and en- 
gender various dispositions in the human heart. 
The frequency with which a taste for the fine 
arts is casually produced, is matter of daily 
observation ; and it would be easy to cite a long 
list of individuals who have attained to eminence 
in consequence of events, in the first instance, 
wholly fortuitous. Science and literature afford 
examples equally numerous ; but it is in the pro- 
duction of feeling, passion, and temper, from 
transitory, and for the most part, unobserved 
events, that the causes now under consideration, 
are important. Such are constantly operating, 
and laying the foundation of dispositions that 
last through life. To these in part, must we 



432 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 

also ascribe the diversity of character which 
exists in members of the same family : the results 
are visible, but the sources are overlooked. By 
diminishing the empire of accident, temper and 
disposition would not indeed, be assimilated in all, 
but we should be rendered more rational, energetic, 
and benevolent. 

III. After the comparatively limited training of 
youth, the education of life holds the most pro- 
minent place. This no doubt, is going on at 
every period of existence, but as we advance in 
years, we reciprocate more and more, the con- 
duct and the influences of our fellows. Our ha- 
bits of feeling, thinking, and acting, are regulated 
in no small degree, by the manner in which other 
men feel, think, and act, with regard to us. As 
they feel, we feel ; as they think, so think we ; 
and as they act, we act likewise. This sympathy 
of man with man, exercises a prodigious influ- 
ence, since it may be the equal instrument of 
boundless good, or of incalculable evil. When man 
becomes what he ought, his power over others will 
increase to an extent, of which our limited expe- 
rience enables us to form a very feeble conception. 
Much of the goodness which this world displays, 
is under God, to be ascribed to the agency of 
man on man. And if this, imperfect as it is, has 
produced such results, what may we not expect 
when in place of excellence thinly scattered, there 
will be whole communities rife with all the 
qualities that confer honour on humanity? As 
it is at present, man is compelled to struggle with 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 433 

man, and every one is forced to work out his 
social position by an infinity of efforts, some of 
which are anything but calculated to promote the 
real interests of individuals or of society. The 
rivalries of emulation and ambition in the diffe- 
rent walks of life ; the persecutions flowing from 
personal enmity, party-spirit, and sectarian ani- 
mosity, as well as the kindlier sympathies of 
social existence, are powerful springs in the de- 
velopment of feeling. These however, are still 
less so, than the closer relations of our being — 
relations dictated by Supreme benevolence. I 
speak of the ties of kindred, to whose existence 
and continuance we owe some of the most deli- 
cious emotions that we have been rendered capable 
of enjoying. The connexion of husband and wife, 
of parent and child, and of brother and sister, is 
the source of excellencies and virtues so great, 
and of happiness so exquisite, that life without 
them, would be a worthless possession. Yet by 
the ordination of Providence, these may also 
prove the source of unutterable woe. If however, 
we would love our friends — if we would prize 
their society — if we would live and die for them, 
how is it possible not to experience regret for 
their loss ? We cannot have the one without the 
other. Yet God in his mercy, extracts good 
from evil: our grief carries an antidote along 
with it ; nor is it a small source of virtue and 
excellence. If we will but turn our hearts to the 
great First Cause, we must see that all is goodness 
and wisdom. We shall perceive that a permanent 

E E 



434 ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES- 

existence on earth, is not calculated to ensure that 
perpetual progression for which the soul in its 
inmost recesses longs; while it is equally in- 
compatible with the intention of this world, 
as a nursery for beings who are to endure 
throughout eternity. We thus come, at length, 
to rest satisfied with the present, and to look for- 
ward with hope and trustfulness to that future, 
where we feel assured of finally arriving. There, 
we shall receive a joyful welcome from those who 
were dear to us here, and whom we shall meet wiser, 
and better, and happier than when they left us. 
Thus, at either end of the isthmus of time, we 
are provided by the care of Him who watches 
over all things — in the one case, with the happy 
band of friends and relatives, and in the other, 
with those who were once united to us by earthly 
ties, and by whom we may hope to be initiated 
into some of the wonders and delights of an un- 
tried sphere of existence. 

Of all the qualities attainable by man, moral 
energy is the highest. It includes virtue, know- 
ledge, and excellence, in an active form — active 
in thought, feeling, and deed. Once duly deve- 
loped, this principle pauses no longer for excite- 
ment from without, but draws strength and 
motive for exertion from itself. Energy of this 
cast, has no limits save those to which the capa- 
bilities of human nature are themselves subjected. 
Ever striving for good and the means of improve- 
ment, it yearns after perfection in all things — 
in additional knowledge, in accurate perceptions, 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 435 

in deep and just feelings, and in pure and well- 
directed affections. It makes both intellect and 
passion subservient ; the one to work nobler pur- 
poses, the other to furnish the sacred and undying 
ardour necessary to fulfil them. To a mind en- 
dowed with such energy, every increase of know- 
ledge and mental power, but prepares the way 
for further additions, and ulterior improvements. 
I do not speak of that enthusiasm which is im- 
mersed in a vortex of aimless, ill-defined, and 
often erroneous impulses, but of that pure and 
precious energy which guided by reason, and 
enlivened by passion, strives continually after 
perfection, and equally tries to resolve the great 
problem of existence, and faithfully to perform 
the duties and purposes of life. This is the 
quality which of all others, builds up and perfects 
the moral man; and it may be said once for all, 
that no superior character ever existed, and no 
continued series of virtuous actions ever was per- 
formed, that were not owing to a large infusion 
of it. 



436 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND AS REGARDS THE 
AFFECTIONS, PASSIONS, FEELINGS, AND MORAL 
JUDGMENTS. 



1 . The three fundamental conditions of conscious- 
ness, are sensation, feeling, and reflection ; these 
however, may be reduced to two — material and 
ideal consciousness. It will not do to confound 
under the one term perception, a sensation and an 
idea; it is equally obvious, that an idea and a 
mental emotion, should not receive the same 
appellation. Moral truth may be taught like any 
other branch of science, but the feelings and 
habits which accompany it, and which are an 
integral part of virtue, cannot be communicated 
by a similar process. It has been looked upon 
as a sanction of particular convictions, that they 
were regarded with love and affection ; the feel- 
ing involved however, may accompany error as 
well as truth, and hence the difficulty of turning 
away the belief, unless we appeal to both heart 
and understanding. Truth indeed, must be in- 
sisted on, and the affections drawn to the only 
source of light, and life, and love. As for the 
moral judgment, it is not a matter of reasoning 
alone, but of feeling and understanding united. 
I. There is no material organ for the exercise 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 437 

of the affections, feelings, and moral judgments. 
The brain is not the organ of mind, consequently, 
it cannot be the organ of the feelings, since these 
are but forms of consciousness. Sensations them- 
selves, are so likewise; therefore, to assert that 
the brain is the organ of mind, is to fall into the 
error of making a part stand for the whole — to 
put the effect for the cause, and to make one con- 
dition of consciousness, the vehicle of another. 
Something ulterior exists ; this undergoes the 
different states to which we give the names of 
sensations, feelings, and ideas. Feelings are just 
as distinct from ideas, as ideas are from feelings, 
and as sensations are from both. They are alike 
the manifestations of an unknown something, or 
of something known only by these. It is wrong 
therefore, to confound the manifestation with the 
thing that manifests it, or to make the former the 
source of the latter. Physical science however, 
now unites with intellectual, in looking upon 
sensations as modes of consciousness. The phe- 
nomena of light, extension, resistance, and muscu- 
lar motion, are cases in illustration, though in point 
of fact, every class of sensation is equally so. Of 
the exterior source of sensation, we are no less 
ignorant, than of the interior recipient, or vehicle 
of consciousness. That there is an external 
something beneath the phenomena of the outward 
world, seems probable ; that there is an internal 
something cognizant of sensation is indubitable, 
since consciousness is at once the indication and 
the proof. The mind however, whether as re- 



438 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

gards the intellect or the affections, has no ma- 
terial organ ; in other words, it is not identical 
with matter. 

II. We are not capable of calling up our feelings 
and ideas with equal facility; would we renew 
the former, we must repeat the ideas with which 
they are associated. Every one is aware with 
what intensity past affections are recalled, by the 
recollection of the words and acts of a beloved 
person, or even by the sight of his abode, or the 
localities which he was wont to frequent. When 
we would awaken the feelings connected with 
patriotism, honour, glory, or the love of family 
and kindred, the mental trains included under 
these terms are summed up, and become the 
rallying point of the various associated affections. 
So likewise, when we would renew the love and 
veneration which we bear towards the Deity, we 
ponder upon his attributes, his wonderful works, 
his innumerable perfections, the blessings which 
attend his providence, the security which he 
accords to us, and the acts of beneficence which 
we have experienced at his hands. The painter, 
the poet, the musician, and the orator, are re- 
spectively in possession of a language with which 
the feelings are united, and by which the slumber- 
ing emotions of our nature, are indirectly aroused. 
Whether we hate or love, the emotion comes 
either imperfectly or not at all, under our direct 
volition ; indirectly indeed, the power to do both 
is very considerable. We cannot immediately 
contract aversion or esteem; but by means of 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 439 

certain agencies, both, in some measure, are 
placed at our disposal. Our affections and 
aversions are indeed, subject to certain laws, but 
their exercise or restraint, is necessarily con- 
trolled by the state of mind which we call will. 
Love and affection are generated by the qualities 
which yield us pleasure; hate and aversion, by 
those which cause us pain. The aversions of a 
good man will vary from those of a bad ; and the 
objects of the love of the intellectual and en- 
lightened, from those of the ignorant and debased. 
This holds no less true w T ith regard to those whose 
feelings, affections, and moral judgments are highly 
developed, than those in whom they remain in a 
state approaching to nullity. The sympathies of 
the one, widely differ from those of the other. 
How opposite will be their condition in minds 
chained down by ignorance, sensuality, and vice, 
from that which they exhibit in hearts and un- 
derstandings, alive to the dictates of knowledge 
and virtue? Man is endowed with mighty capa- 
bilities, but these remain barren and inert, till 
called by cultivation, into life and activity. This 
is the source of the amazing differences which 
exist, as well as of the wonderful attainments by 
which some have been distinguished. 

The wise and virtuous man will be careful to 
regulate his desires and aversions according to 
the dictates of duty. He will try to feel aver- 
sion when it is proper to experience aversion, and 
love, when it is his duty to experience love. In 
fine, he is aware that he should avoid all the 



440 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

occasions which tend to the production of ill- 
directed affections, as well as of associations of 
feeling that he should not entertain. He knows 
that all desires incompatible with purity, should 
be struggled with, resisted, and subdued. Evil- 
doers cannot afford him pleasure, but reflection 
on the nature of circumstances, and on the inevi- 
table subjection of every human being to their 
influence, will teach him charity and forbearance, 
as well as lead him to hate, not so much the per- 
petrators of evil, as the hateful vices to which 
they are addicted. 

The principles which govern the conduct of 
the vicious and ignorant, will diverge more or 
less from the line of rectitude, as they recede from 
knowledge and excellence. A sensual man will 
rarely hate or love, from motives the same as those 
which regulate the affections of the refined and 
virtuous. One bad passion, more or less perverts 
our whole moral being. Those whose minds are 
base and sensual, whatever be their station, will 
hate every manifestion of disinterested excellence. 
There is a difference between the man who com- 
mits crime from a sudden and powerful impulse, 
and the low, cunning, and selfish individual, 
who, steeped in depravity, has yet sufficient 
self-command to avoid any overt act of glaring 
iniquity. Vice and impurity, not less than igno- 
rance and imbecility, pervert and degrade the 
reasoning powers. The influence of outward 
circumstances is contingent on the state of the 
heart and intellect. We are indeed, the crea- 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 441 

tures of circumstances, but it is in a very large 
and copious sense. The man with well-regulated 
habits and affections, and who is furnished with 
knowledge and moral energy, so far from being 
controlled by circumstances, turns them to his 
advantage; and if obliged to yield for a time, 
always recurs with fresh strength to his purposes. 
It is but an evidence of weakness when we per- 
mit any obstacles to overcome our good inten- 
tions. The influence of disposition and character 
over the formation and proper direction of the 
feelings and affections, is enormous. A bigot, a 
fanatic, or a violent party-man, would consider 
it an error to accord his esteem to the best indi- 
vidual in existence, whose principles and prac- 
tice happened to differ from his own. False 
associations are the source of the greater num- 
ber of bad and evil tendencies which desolate the 
world — tendencies which cause the ignorant to 
hate knowledge, the vicious to hate virtue, and 
the irreligious to hate true religion. In a word, 
ignorance and malevolence oppose knowledge 
and excellence in every form; for as the better 
feelings of our nature confirm and suggest each 
other, so do evil ones with regard to their own 
kind. Thus, our sympathies come to be per- 
verted at their source; and conditions which 
to the wise and good, bring triumph and joy, 
prove to the bad and ignorant, so many occa- 
sions of misery and despair. 

The advantages that would accrue from a 
knowledge of the laws of the affections and moral 
sympathies, are exceedingly great; as it is, the 



442 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

formation of these is left in a great measure to 
chance. Every young person should be instructed 
in the theory of both, in order that he may dis- 
criminate between qualities merely pleasing, and 
those which are of substantial excellence; be- 
tween the graces of the exterior, and those of the 
heart and understanding. He should be taught 
to prize, not merely the glittering endowments 
which attract the frivolous and unthinking, but 
those which constitute the precious essence of 
our better nature — fortitude, constancy, charity, 
self-respect, self-denial, energy, and the love of 
God and man. It must be shewn that the moral 
faculties and sympathies require daily cultivation, 
and that we should be unceasing in seeking op- 
portunities for their display. Like the intellec- 
tual powers, they cannot safely slumber in disue- 
tude: if they do, the inclination dies with the 
habit, and the moral man is degraded. When 
this is the case with the wise and good, what must 
occur with regard to the ignorant and vicious — 
those whose feelings are rarely or never exer- 
cised? The glorious capabilities of our being 
should be cultivated, not in one, but in all ; we 
should then, no longer witness them slumbering 
in ignominious inaction, or basely perverted from 
their original purposes. A sympathy would 
spring up between man and man, of which we 
have at present but faint conceptions; no one 
would attempt to constrain the feelings by vio- 
lence, or display hatred and aversion, when he 
should be actuated by love and esteem. 

III. Association exercises the same govern- 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 443 

ment over the feelings, passions, and moral judg- 
ments, as over the purely intellectual part of our 
nature. The manifestations of our fellow-crea- 
tures may be united with an immense variety of 
feelings, giving rise to that pure and perfect sym- 
pathy which is extended to virtue, knowledge, 
and all excellence, as well as to that vicious and 
perverted form of it, which is allied with igno- 
rance and iniquity. A fanatic or a violent party- 
man will extend his approbation to the advocacy 
of his peculiar views, however revolting the means 
may be which that advocacy involves. These 
two base passions — fanaticism and party-spirit, 
by veiling iniquity, and by distorting and misap- 
plying just principles, have largely degraded the 
human mind. This will be the more apparent, 
if we consider that they act not only on indivi- 
duals, but on masses of men. The sympathy of 
man with man, however much abused, has been, 
and ever will continue to be, one of the most 
powerful props of honour and excellence ; while 
the relations which it includes, are of the most 
diversified character, and yield the strongest 
illustrations of Divine wisdom and power. Our 
better qualities dispose us to entertain the warm- 
est feelings towards our fellows, while superstition, 
ignorance, and depravity, induce the worst. 

IV. Sympathy is not confined to what takes 
place between man and man; it is extended to 
the inferior animals, and even to the inanimate 
world. Assuredly, it is a beautiful arrangement 
by means of which, our feelings and affections 



444 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

are spread over so many objects, to the multiplica- 
tion of our being, and to the promotion of the 
happiness of all concerned. Every act which is 
attended with a feeling of any kind, helps to 
reflect it on its object. Thus, a provision is made 
for the fostering of children, and for the forma- 
tion of affections towards them during a period 
of helplessness, in which they can make little or 
no return. We come to love the material world, 
our mother earth, in whose lap we were born — 
the continents, oceans, mountains, vallies, rivers, 
lakes, and plains; the lonely forest, and the 
crowded scenes of human existence. These, and 
all the magnificent features with which they 
abound, are connected with deep and varied emo- 
tions in which we delight to dwell. Even the 
poor dumb brute, shares in our sympathy, and is 
regarded with an interest which we should not 
otherwise accord. The perceptions of some as 
to the beauties of the external world, are singu- 
larly, nay painfully accute, while to the ignorant 
and apathetic, the objects which display them, 
are but as stocks and stones. There are few 
things in which mankind are more deficient, or 
in which the habitual neglect displayed towards 
the various sources of joy and happiness so bounti- 
fully scattered around, is more glaringly apparent. 
The inhabitants of cities from their artificial ex- 
istence, have little opportunity for cultivating a 
taste for natural objects ; while those of the 
country, are too generally destitute of refinement 
and mental culture, as well as eaten up with the 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 445 

pressing necessities of daily life. When we survey 
the glories of the outward world, and reflect upon 
its sublime utilities, our hearts are smitten with 
profound emotion, and raised with gratitude to 
the exalted, the ineffable Author. The great 
book of nature is replete with boundless scope 
for speculation and improvement; all its influ- 
ences are favourable to the promotion of mental 
and moral elevation, of virtue and of happiness. 
It is commonly chosen for the purpose of illus- 
trating Divine wisdom and power; and well do 
its majesty, diversity, and unspeakable grace and 
beauty, justify the selection. As mankind ad- 
vance in knowledge and wisdom, in virtue and in 
excellence, so shall the humanizing, the instructive 
and the gladdening influence of nature, be the 
more fully felt and recognized; and the more 
powerfully shall it contribute to the further pro- 
motion of human joy and well-being. 

V. As the feelings are regulated according to 
the laws of association, it follows as a corollary, 
that exercise is necessary to their wholesome and 
active permanence. Their recurrence therefore, 
should not be left to the mercy of contingencies. 
It is not practicable indeed, were it desirable, 
that our whole being should be wrapped up in 
successive trains of feeling; the latter should 
nevertheless, be daily cultivated, as auxiliaries 
highly conducive to the interests of virtue and 
happiness. Accidental circumstances are insuf- 
ficient for the purpose, as they confessedly are 
for intellectual training. In both cases we must 



446 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

resort to active expedients. It is owing to the infe- 
rior development of the feelings and affections, that 
the generous dictates of religion and morality are 
so feebly felt. The intellectual perception merely, 
of what is right, will not suffice ; it is no less ne- 
cessary to feel, than to know. Had this been 
otherwise, the Creator of the universe would not 
have thus endowed us. It is our bounden duty 
to exercise the better feelings, and to discourage 
the worse. If disuetude stunt the former, so the 
latter are pampered and rendered prominent by 
indulgence. Evil feelings should be starved and 
forced out of existence by want of culture ; while 
opposite ones should receive every degree of care 
and encouragement. The institutions of society 
however, too frequently counteract the purposes 
of nature ; and even where they do not, we should 
leave no available means unimproved, that are 
calculated to second her intentions. It is not the 
barren exercise of feeling which is recommended, 
but that which flows from the practice of mora- 
lity, self-respect, the love of our fellows, and 
more especially, the love of God. Few days 
pass by, that do not present some opportunity of 
doing good, if we will but embrace it. The mise- 
ries of mankind yield ample scope for the exer- 
cise of benevolence the most exalted; and there 
are few communities so well circumstanced, as 
not to exhibit frequent occasions for succouring 
the sorrowing, the unhappy, and the distressed. 
As it is, there are sickness, destitution, and all 
the evils which flow from the continuance of ig- 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 447 

norance, superstition, tyranny, and the absence 
of sufficient instruction. It is not enough to re- 
lieve the misery which lies in our path, but also 
to attend to that which, unless sought for in its 
secret haunts, remains unmitigated and unknown. 
There are indeed, numberless ways by which 
happiness may be promoted, and by which the 
superior feelings may receive exercise and de- 
velopment ; while the universal existence of capa- 
bilities for such, affords a strong presumption that 
all were intended to share in the blessings that 
might be made to accrue from them. 

VI. The feelings and affections are regulated 
by immutable laws : were this not so, their culti- 
vation would be vain and impracticable. In 
every clime, and under every circumstance — 
now, as in times past, they have been ever the 
same. It is this which causes the treatises of the 
sages of old, to be of importance at the present 
day, and which will render those now written, 
available hereafter. There is but one rule of 
morality for the whole world, and for all times ; 
man may misinterpret, but it does not the less 
exist. Its uniformity and immutability, repose 
on the unvarying constitution of human nature, 
as laid down by eternal wisdom, and on the con- 
stantly recurring relations of the outward world. 
Error could not be inculcated by the few, were it 
not owing to the ignorance of the many ; for if 
the minds and hearts of all, were duly cultivated, 
there would be no prejudices to which it would 
be possible to appeal. The mass of mankind as 



448 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

now circumstanced, are nearly in total ignorance 
of the laws of the intellect, feelings, and moral 
judgments ; they are consequently, liable to be 
imposed upon, by every one who has sufficient 
energy and depravity of motive, to lead him to 
undertake the task. 

VII. It is singular that feelings may be awa- 
kened during sleep — that our dream-life is not 
merely confined to intellectual phenomena, but 
extends to those of feeling and passion. Every 
emotion whether of passion or pain, may be 
vividly felt in our sleeping, as in our waking mo- 
ments. Feelings and ideas are co-associated, not 
less during the former, than at any other period ; 
our ideas however, not being under the control 
of waking realities, often assume the most fantastic 
aspects. The joys and sorrows of this strange 
condition, appear no less real at the time, than 
do the mental conditions with which they are 
connected. Our dreams are more or less regu- 
lated by the current of our waking feelings. 
There is a difference in the dreams even, of 
the wise man and the fool; of those endowed 
with mental energy, and those who are not. 
Few persons rest composedly after violent ex- 
citement. In the painful condition called night- 
mare, the mind is partly conscious of its situation, 
but the power over the voluntary organs is nearly 
suspended. Sleep-walking, is a state still more 
extraordinary ; the mind controls the voluntary 
organs indeed, but is nearly ignorant of its rela- 
tions with the outward world. These obscure 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 449 

phenomena in which so many mixed agencies 
operate, will probably never be fully cleared up. 
After all however, though less frequent, they are 
not more remarkable than others. How are we 
to explain sleeping, waking, or any of the pheno- 
mena of consciousness, much less that condition 
which includes them all — life? Is it too much 
to conjecture with some, that when the veil of 
eternity is lifted up, we shall find that we have 
dwelt in the midst of things of whose existence 
we never weened, and that life itself, with all its 
marvels, was but one long dream? 

VIII. A remarkable condition to which the 
name of double or divided consciousness is given, 
has attracted attention of late years. If the 
alleged instances should prove genuine, it would 
serve to establish a new and very singular psy- 
chological phenomenon. Two different mental 
states are said to occur, in which the individual 
while experiencing the one, does not recollect 
what has taken place in the other. There would 
appear to be two separate identities in the same 
individual, during each of which, the subject 
thinks, feels, learns, and reflects differently. The 
examples however, are so few, as hardly to come 
within the range of philosophical disquisition, and 
if true, are wholly insusceptible of explanation. 
A kind of intermitting consciousness however, 
takes place in every one to a certain extent; we 
experience feelings and ideas at one time, which 
we do not at another. Emigrants and exiles, at 
the hour of death, and during sickness, will often 

F F 



450 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

express themselves in their mother tongue, though 
for a large portion of their preceding lives, it 
has been disused, and apparently forgotten. The 
converse also, has been observed. During fits 
of anger and intoxication, foreigners frequently 
lose all fluency in their adopted tongues, though 
by no means incapacitated from employing their 
own. We cannot indeed, comprehend how con- 
sciousness takes place in any case ; but that two 
distinct forms of it, should exist at once in the 
same individual, is equally unintelligible and ex- 
traordinary. 

IX. The term moral insanity, has been given 
not improperly, to the excessive misdirection of 
the moral faculties, feelings, and affections; in 
every case however, it may perhaps be assumed 
that intellectual derangement must constitute the 
essence of the disease. Unless the mind be dis- 
turbed, or predisposed by ignorance and super- 
stition, a mere corporeal hallucination will not 
affect it. The intellect of Nicolai not to mention 
others, was untainted, though he was haunted by 
a multitude of diseased visual perceptions. In 
moral insanity, an erroneous idea is associated 
with some feeling, passion, or affection, the 
vehemence of which indeed, may possibly have 
induced it. In the short-lived madness which 
we term anger, the feelings it is true, are deep 
and violent; the insanity nevertheless, does not 
reside in them, but in the exaggerated conceptions 
with which they are united. Intense emotion 
however, will raise up fresh currents of ideas, 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 451 

which in their turn, enhance or aggravate the 
emotions already formed. What is called reli- 
gious madness, consists of a series of mental illu- 
sions, connected with some feeling in itself cor- 
rect. The melancholy of Cowper was of this 
stamp ; the impossibility of being saved, was the 
morbid conviction round which his exquisite 
feelings rallied with invincible tenacity. How 
many minds have been subverted and destroyed, 
by conceptions that would convert the Infinite 
Father into a being of merciless wrath? Pity 
it is, that the blessed, the consolatory, and the 
vivifying spirit of true religion, should ever be 
converted into an agent of misery and desolation. 
Similar observations apply to moral insanity, 
so far as the inferior passions are concerned. 
There is still the same union of a feeling with an 
intellectual conception, either erroneous in itself, 
or erroneously directed. Ravaillac, the assassin 
of Henry the Fourth of France, and Damiens, who 
attempted the life of Louis the Fifteenth, were 
actuated, the one by fanatical, the other by 
political impulses. Sand affords an analogous 
example. His feelings were raised to a high pitch. 
He believed that Kotzebue was suborned to write 
down the liberties of his country, and therefore con- 
cluded that he should destroy him. This was the 
rallying point of his madness: the feeling was 
correct, but the conviction was insane. If the 
contemplation of isolated instances however, be 
painful, how much more so is it, when nations 
furnish the spectacle, and when by the pro- 



452 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

scription and persecution, of excellence and truth, 
they become chargeable with the imputation? 
Whenever we witness the union of feelings, 
whether good or bad in themselves, with perverted 
and erroneous conceptions — wherever we behold 
the many or the few, banded together to oppress 
the innocent and the just; to suppress truth or 
to cultivate error; to promote irreligion at the 
expense of religion ; or to minister to the base and 
inferior passions of our nature, to the prejudice 
of those which are pure and elevated, there we 
must recognize the existence of the disease in 
question. Moral insanity presents itself in many 
forms : the mere occurrence of violent or de- 
pressing passions, does not constitute, though it 
often originates it. There is however, no exact 
line, where it may be said that reason begins or 
ends. In a highly cultivated and moral commu- 
nity, every form of vice and depravity, would 
doubtless, be looked upon as one of perverted 
reason. Is it not to defective associations between 
the two leading conditions of our nature, that the 
practice of evil is in a great measure to be as- 
cribed? It will not do to cherish the feelings at 
the expense of the intellect, nor yet the intellect 
at the expense of the feelings, and without good 
habits, knowledge is worthless It may be presumed 
that if these were cultivated from infancy, the 
base passions and miserable prejudices which in- 
fest society, would be unknown. 

X. Transference is one of the most interesting 
of the laws which come within the range of our 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 453 

mental constitution. The first thing with regard 
to it, which strikes us with peculiar force, is the 
substitution of the means for the end. This is 
secured by a process at once so admirable and 
effective — so worthy of the divine Author, and 
so well adapted to human wants, as to demand 
our most enthusiastic admiration. Humanity is 
not sufficiently strong to keep the end ever in 
view, so as to make it singly, a sufficient motive 
to exertion; the translation in idea and affection, 
of the advantages of the end to the means, was 
therefore added. This then, was to render the 
cultivation of the means, of vast importance, and 
the instrument of great happiness. The end 
contended for, might not be obtained in this life ; 
it might not even be of a nature that could be 
realized, yet the means employed, were an imme- 
diate source of measureless good. Like every 
other however, the principle is susceptible of 
abuse. Those who hate virtue and knowledge, 
abhor every one who is influenced by them, and 
everything that has any tendency to uphold them : 
the same extends to civil and religious liberty, 
with regard to those who are so unfortunate 
as to stand in this depraved relation towards 
it. The fear of death illustrates the law of 
transference in a remarkable manner. In most 
cases, it is connected, not only with the imme- 
diate phenomena attendant on this change, but 
with all the agents by means of which, the disso- 
lution of the mortal fabric is accomplished. With 
some men, and in some countries, this passion is 



454 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

very strong, while with regard to others, it is the 
reverse. Similar remarks extend to the love of 
sex, of life, and in fine, to all the affections and 
desires. The love of money affords a striking 
example, since it evinces the strongest attach- 
ment for a thing intrinsically worthless. Am- 
bition is a case almost equally in point: the 
ultimate object may or may not be attained, but 
the intervening steps, though possessed of little 
attraction in themselves, come to be looked upon 
as infinitely desirable. Energetic and restless 
minds often gratify the love of action without 
much, if any reference to its object. There is a 
singular form of transference in which the desire 
becomes the belief. The love of truth is a potent 
agent in securing its retention, but in individuals 
of inferior knowledge and moral stamina, the 
principle may become so far perverted, that the 
affection leans to error. There are many cases 
in which, when the truth of a given position is 
strongly desired, it actually comes to be enter- 
tained. It is obvious that if the seeker after 
knowledge do not free himself from adventitious 
tendencies — from hope and fear alike, he will be 
continually liable to be led astray. How often 
do the passions distort the conceptions which we 
form respecting conduct and character? The 
minds of the superstitious, the bigoted, the mali- 
cious, and the ignorant, are in perpetual thral- 
dom; intellect cannot expand, so long as it is 
thus kept in bondage. The cheerful portal that 
leads to the realms of everlasting truth, is barred 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 455 

to such, blinded and chained down as they are, 
by errors from which there is no release. In- 
stances perpetually occur, in which from the in- 
fluence of perverted desire, men are led to act in 
opposition to the very dictates of their senses. 
Few physicians in the days of Harvey or Serve- 
tus, believed in the circulation of the blood ; and 
the discoveries of Newton, Lavoisier, and others, 
were disregarded by many, although in both 
cases, the physical evidence was full and com- 
plete. 

The translation of the affections, feelings, and 
moral judgments, when placed as it ought, under 
the regulation of reason and virtue, is the origin 
of a never-ceasing variety of mental pleasures. 
What can be a more fitting subject for wonder 
and astonishment, than that any given feeling 
may be multiplied, apparently to infinity; and 
that emotions arising in the first instance from an 
organic source, should not only be transferred to 
the conscious mind, but there exist without end? 
Nothing indeed, is more worthy of admiration in 
itself, or better calculated to awaken an unlimited 
sense of devotion towards the Supreme Contriver. 
The intimate appreciation of the laws of our 
moral being, holds out fresh inducements for the 
promotion of virtue, and additional sources of 
admiration, not less with regard to the endow- 
ments which have been conferred on us, than 
towards the wisdom, goodness, and power, which 
have originated them. 

XI. The succession of ideas and feelings, is 



456 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

only less continuous than that of ideas themselves. 
Few days, if any, elapse, in which the mind is 
not more or less occupied with the affections, 
emotions, and moral judgments, and this, in the 
ratio of the cultivation of the sensitive portion 
of our nature. Some are highly imbued with 
feeling; their affections are widely expanded, 
both as regards their fellow-creatures, and the 
principles and practice of moral truth: while 
others again, feel but little, or little that is of an 
elevated description. The external aspect and 
demeanour are indeed alike, but the inward diver- 
sity is inconceivably great. Be it more or be it 
less however, there is a never-ceasing succession 
from an early period to the grave. Each day not 
only brings its emotions, but also, an exceeding 
variety of them ; to such an extent indeed, as to 
make us marvel at the capabilities of our nature. 
Some of these combinations are exquisitely pain- 
ful, while others are beautiful exceedingly. They 
pass away however, some to recur, and others 
never to recur again, while mortality endures. 

XII. We cannot appropriate the affections and 
emotions, whether painful or pleasurable, of others, 
without archetypes of them in ourselves. Nor 
yet, can this be done without cultivation. The 
sympathies of the great majority in favour of 
truth, justice, and moral excellence, are all too 
imperfect. In how many is there not a debased 
and malignant community of feeling with error, 
ignorance, and crime ; and even among the edu- 
cated, how much does the development of the intel- 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 457 

lect supersede that which is due to the heart, and 
how imperfect and coldly conventional are their 
sympathies? In none are the eternal powers 
of the human mind adequately elicited. It is 
only by the universal cultivation of our nature — 
by the development of the moral judgment, no 
less than of the understanding — of the feelings, no 
less than of the ideas, that man can reciprocate 
the joys, the hopes, and the fears of his fellows; 
and it is by the same means that the heart may 
be best exalted to the love and contemplation of 
the Ruler of the Universe : for the love of God, 
as it is the highest of the affections, includes and 
perfects them all. Shall we not strive then, to 
improve the precious principle, and in a correct 
and enlarged sympathy for the good, the beauti- 
ful, and the true, seek our best and dearest hap- 
piness. 

XIII. Feelings, affections, and fears, will some- 
times remain, when the convictions connected 
with them have passed away. It is true that new 
feelings spring up with fresh convictions, but it is 
difficult for the strongest minds, at once, to dis- 
possess themselves of emotions long indulged in. 
Our deepest feelings should doubtless, be rivetted 
to our convictions of truth, since they uphold and 
maintain them in the strongest manner ; but it is 
impossible, consistent with the power of forming 
such associations, to prevent them from being 
occasionally connected with error : it is the abuse 
of a superior principle, unavoidable from the 
liberty of choice, and the progressive nature of 



458 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

our being. One remarkable result attendant on 
this firmness of association, is the occasional re- 
vival of error after it has for a period ceased to 
be entertained. In minds that are weakened 
by misfortune or disease, and on which perhaps, 
newly-acquired truths are not sufficiently im- 
pressed, old associations of feeling and belief are 
renewed with such force, as sometimes to repro- 
duce convictions that were seemingly extinct. It 
is obvious that the more powerful the intellect, 
and the more vigorous and successful the efforts 
to arrive at truth, the less probability will there 
be, of the re-awakening of previous feelings with 
their co-associated errors. Indeed, when these 
desiderata unite, error with all the emotions 
which appertain to it, will vanish with a ra- 
pidity which to one unacquainted with such 
transitions, appears impossible. Superstitious 
and unfounded terrors at whatever period im- 
bibed, are only to be removed by the sedulous 
cultivation of the heart and understanding; by 
the acquisition of well-founded convictions, and 
by connecting with them, pure and elevated feel- 
ings. It is the duty of every man to disabuse his 
mind of error, and of all the emotions that accom- 
pany it. Such, are the evidence of weakness and 
imbecility, when suffered to remain to the preju- 
dice of truth. There is enough in the well- 
directed study of man's nature ; in his relations 
with his fellows, and in the contemplation of 
God's providence and infinite works, to fill the 
mind and heart to overflowing, and to banish for 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 459 

ever, the illusions of ignorance, superstition, and 
error. 

XIV. There is a time in which the feelings 
and affections, the moral judgment and the in- 
tellect, awaken to a condition of life and activity 
in which they were never previously placed. 
This ensues at different periods — in early youth, 
in childhood even, or at a more advanced age. 
In the case of remarkable children, we sometimes 
find the understanding and feelings developed to 
an amazing extent. The changes here adverted 
to, produce results that are observable, not only 
by the person affected, but by those who surround 
him. He obtains a degree of mental and moral 
energy, by which he was never before actuated ; 
the wonders of nature, and those of science 
and art, strike him with a vividness previously 
unfelt ; while the great questions of social 
existence, and the various relations of his being, 
engage his earnest attention. With reference to 
natural objects, this alteration has been termed 
philosophic childhood; with regard to the feelings, 
affections, and moral judgments however, there is 
no specific name. The first implies the same 
delightful appreciation of the objects of nature, 
which the child experiences for a long time after 
being ushered on the stage of life — the fresh and 
vivid curiosity of the child, with the moral and 
intellectual perceptions of the man. Between 
one who has been thus roused, and one who has 
not, the difference is truly marvellous. To the 
former, all things appear under an interesting 



460 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

and agreeable aspect : their relations and applica- 
tions, as well as the exquisite skill which has been 
manifested in their arrangement, are surveyed 
with endless satisfaction. The change however, 
is if possible, greater in one who from apathy and 
ignorance, is turned to the appreciation of moral 
truth, and to its application to the varying wants 
and concerns of life. Of him it may be emphati- 
cally said, that he is no longer the same. He 
experiences a lively sympathy with regard to the 
wants and wishes of his fellows; he studies to 
discharge the duties of an intelligent and moral 
being ; he is imbued with sentiments of respect 
towards himself and human nature at large ; 
and he is impressed with the deepest sense of the 
dependence of all things on the goodness, wisdom, 
and unerring excellence of God. To arrive at 
such a condition however, implies no small ad- 
vancement, and the individual who would achieve 
so glorious a consummation, must consider neither 
time nor toil, watching nor self-denial, mispent. 

XV. As it is frequently necessary for the sake 
of ulterior good, to do that which is more or less 
disagreeable, so a provision has been made for 
mitigating the latter. The exercise in the first 
instance, of self-denial and forbearance, and the 
endurance of cold, hunger, and toil, are often suffi- 
ciently painful; but if done conformably to 
principle, they will be associated with feelings so 
pleasurable, as far to outweigh the primary in- 
convenience. Temperance is to be advocated in 
all things, even for its material utility ; but it is 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 46l 

on higher grounds, as tending to the direct eleva- 
tion of the heart and understanding, that its 
efficacy is to be upheld. Without a sanction thus 
superior, it would dwindle into a meagre and use- 
less asceticism. When the appetites are gratified 
in subordination to morality, and the better in- 
stitutions of society, their indulgence will not be 
at variance with the dictates of duty. The false 
importance that is attached to material pleasures, 
is clearly shewn by the wretchedness which so 
many experience upon their loss. Much of the 
existing frame-work of society is based upon their 
supposed superiority, and the subordination of 
all pursuits and profession of principle, to obtain- 
ing them. We are aided in our endeavours, by 
the benevolent providence of nature, which in- 
vests abstinence, temperance, chastity, and the 
endurance of physical pain, if undergone for the 
sake of duty, with pleasurable feelings, not less 
calculated to support us through our task, than 
to assist us in arriving at that moral elevation of 
which we have been rendered susceptible by the 
Author of Good. *■ 

XVI. Mankind would have been unhappily 
circumstanced if the growth of the affections, and 
the practice of morality, had been made contin- 
gent on a knowledge of their theory and origin. 
Without rules or guidance for their conduct, 
what would have become of them during their 
long minority? It has however, been better 
ordered; and we have been enabled by a pro- 
cess eminently manifesting the wisdom, the power, 



462 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

and the goodness of God, to conform to the 
principles of morality, hardly less faithfully per- 
haps, than if we understood the basis upon which 
they rest. Their habitual observance necessa- 
rily leads to the formation of states of mind, 
partly founded on the simple recollection of right 
and wrong, and partly, on the different feelings 
of pleasure and pain connected with them. It is 
impossible for men to escape the dictates of con- 
science as operated upon by the various agents 
of social existence. Thus, habit and association 
become the mighty instruments whereby human 
conduct is controlled and regulated. It is only 
recently indeed, that successful inquiries have 
been instituted into the origin of the various mo- 
tives, feelings, and impulses, that govern life. It 
was long before men could arrive at the simple 
truth, that virtue and vice were founded upon 
the favourable or unfavourable tendency of ac- 
tions, thoughts, and feelings, with regard to our 
mental, moral, and corporeal well-being, and upon 
emotions of pleasure and pain, translated from 
the painful and pleasurable sensations of our ma- 
terial organization. Truth advances but slowly, 
in the face of the time-propped and interest-sup- 
ported errors of the world. The theory of morals 
indeed, has been imperfectly progressive ; not so 
with the practice and the rules, which even as 
they have been laid down in remote antiquity, 
are worthy of reverence and esteem. 

XVII. The greater or less success of appeals 
to the passions and higher feelings, proves that 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 463 

the latter are more extensively diffused than 
what some are inclined to suppose. In truth, the 
existing condition of society is unfavourable to 
their culture ; its relations are too artificial, and 
the difficulties of individuals too urgent. Never- 
theless, on occasions, these conventional barriers 
are overturned, and man thinks and feels as he 
ought. A vast fund of emotion is engendered 
and maintained by the different ties of domestic 
life. Most men have friends or objects whereon 
to expand their affections. The hearts of some 
indeed, are replete with feeling, while those of 
others, are nearly destitute of it. In how many 
do vicious sentiments grow and flourish, until 
they overtop every other principle? Yet all — 
cases of disease excepted, are capable of feeling, 
affection, and moral worth — in a word, with pro- 
per training, of being imbued with the virtues 
and the excellencies of humanity. No one is 
born with defective capabilities, or with inferior 
tendencies. What higher evidence could be 
brought forward of unceasing and measureless 
goodness — what would have become of us indeed, 
had such inequalities existed? Resting upon the 
glorious truth, we are enabled to proclaim that 
all may be brought to goodness and wisdom, so 
soon as the institutions of society shall sufficiently 
advance, to lead to a provision for universal reli- 
gious and moral training. Surely, the value of 
life is to be estimated, not so much by its physical 
duration — by the days and nights that we eat, 
drink, and sleep, as by the extent to which we 



464 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

have thought and felt, and by the deeds which 
we have done to promote our own rational 
dignity, and the honour and glory of our race. 

XVIII. Our beneficence, whether to the friends 
of our bosom, or to our fellow-creatures at large, is 
the source of emotions which add to our affection 
in the one case, and to our sympathies in the 
other. Injuries also, generate further malevo- 
lence towards those who undergo them. Thus, 
we come to love those whom we benefit, and to 
hate those whom we injure. The glow of satis- 
faction accruing from the performance of good 
offices is so great and so varied, as to prove an 
incentive of the' strongest description, towards 
the practice of virtue. What happiness indeed, 
can be greater than that of expanding in affection 
and good- will towards our friends and fellow-crea- 
tures, through the performance of kind and 
beneficent actions? 

XIX. As age advances and time flows on, a 
gradual though partial change is wrought in our 
convictions, feelings, and affections. We no longer 
attach the same importance to place, dignity, and 
power. The joys of youth, and many of those 
of manhood, fade away and cease ; there are no 
longer the same external impulses, and satiety, 
restlessness, and weariness, too often ensue. Men 
whose moral training has been defective, or whose 
experience has been of an unhappy cast; and 
more especially those who complain that the gra- 
tifications of sense are to be reaped no more, now 
begin to utter bitter, because fruitless and un- 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 465 

availing lamentations, on the shortness, the emp- 
tiness, and the vanity of life. Such regret how- 
ever, is irrational, or at least erroneous ; there is 
a sphere of action and of usefulness adapted to 
every period ; while he who is endowed with a 
grateful heart, and mindful of the obligations to 
which, by the very tenure of existence he is sub- 
jected, will have cause for satisfaction to the last. 
Some however, are overwhelmed with misery and 
wretchedness, and have cause to repine rather 
than rejoice; yet many such, are truly cheerful, 
far more so indeed, than others who have more 
seeming reason to appear so. It is the part of 
all to rise superior to the ills of life ; since there 
are few which may not be mitigated, if not wholly 
overcome. 

As years roll on, and as we advance in the 
vale of life, though the turbulent pleasures of 
youth have flown away, the good man will try to 
increase his knowledge, and to obtain a clearer 
perception of moral truth. He will cultivate his 
affections, and be more rigid in attending to the 
duties that still await his performance. Children 
may remain to him, or friends, and at all events, 
the family of mankind will still be there to claim 
his attention. Nevertheless, his relations with 
society become gradually fewer, his intellectual 
energies are no longer stirred up by the wants 
and the contentions of daily life; his corporeal 
powers dwindle into insignificance, and every 
thing reminds him that his mortal career is fast 
wearing to a close. These wean his affections 

o G 



466 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MIND. 

from earth, and fix them on that other world to 
which he is daily hastening. He begins to eon- 
template more and more frequently, a future 
state of being where good men and superior 
spiritual existences, with all justice and excellence 
await him, and where he hopes to obtain a closer 
insight into the wonders of God's infinite provi- 
dence. At length, he passes away without sorrow 
or regret, into those higher scenes for which his 
heart has so long yearned. Death indeed, is not 
that painful transition which some have imagined ; 
for why should there be suffering where no use- 
ful end is realized by it? Even granting the oc- 
currence of a passing pang, it must prove a slight 
consideration to one who is about to taste the 
glories of eternity. 

XX. Without the passions there could neither 
be feeling nor affection, love of justice, or hatred of 
vice. These are but modifications of one and 
the same principle — of emotions variously asso- 
ciated, and combined with endless intellectual 
convictions. It is needless to insist in this place 
on the energizing nature of the passions — on the 
pleasures with which they strew the path of life, 
or, on the aids which they yield to the cause of 
virtue. Doubtless, they may be excessive or mis- 
directed, abused or neglected, but their misappli- 
cation argues nothing against their utility. If we 
would have the good, we must run the risk of the 
ill ; the one is necessarily contingent on the 
other. We should neither over-estimate nor un- 
derrate the passions, but endeavour to appreciate 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 467 

them at their just value, as agents of immense 
importance in the formation of character. In 
their regulation, as in other things, we have been 
left in a great measure, to our own discretion. 
We have been furnished with the means of se- 
curing our happiness, if we will but make use of 
them ; and we may learn from the records of an 
ample experience, the benefits which accrue from 
the use, and the devastation which follows the 
abuse, of these active constituents of our nature. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART ON THE MIND 
AND FRAME, AND ON ITSELF. 



The heart's influence on the moral judgment has 
already been insisted on. The intellect indeed, 
must determine what is true, but the perception 
will not suffice without the additional sanction of 
the heart and affections. A coldly moral man 
cannot be perfectly virtuous : the seeds of excel- 
lence may exist, but they cannot fructify unless 
subjected to the continued impulse of the better 
feelings. The warm and lively sympathies of 
humanity, bring home to our bosoms the wants 
and the sufferings of our fellows, as well as lead 
to those active exertions in their behalf, which 
are at once the evidence and the fruit of excel- 



468 ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 

lence. One who is destitute of the former, passes 
by the wretched with indifference, or if he do re- 
lieve them, his assistance is tardily and imper- 
fectly given. How meagre and sparing are his 
offerings, without imagination to depict, or sensi- 
bility to enter into the woes of others ? Power- 
ful motives are furnished by the intellect, but 
they are feeble and ineffective compared with 
those which spring from the heart. It is from 
the feelings and affections, that our moral judg- 
ments acquire their complement and strength : in 
fine, the intellectual perception is not a more in- 
tegral portion of these judgments, than are the 
emotions with which, to be complete, they must 
be united. 

It is a topic upon which eloquence and wisdom 
might dilate for ever — the influence of the heart 
on the understanding, and of the understanding 
on the heart. The one yields fresh force to the 
other, and a reciprocal influence is created, which 
it would be impossible to obtain from any other 
source. A merely intellectual man is an imperfect 
one ; he fulfils a portion only, of the obj ects of his ex- 
istence; and even in an intellectual point of 
view, forfeits numerous advantages. Total igno- 
rance on the other hand, is incompatible with the 
maintenance of morality. Those who are sub- 
jected to it, know not how to regulate their affec- 
tions, or where to place them. How can they — 
there is nothing to stimulate, nothing to impel? 
It is a miserable error to direct an exclusive atten- 
tion to mental cultivation ; all that could be be- 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 469 

stowed, is vain and useless without that of the heart. 
Were both enforced, we should no longer witness 
the prodigious amount of wretchedness which 
abounds, or see individuals straining all their 
energies in the production of remote and specu- 
lative changes, to the neglect of those imme- 
diately useful. Society would not be convulsed 
by worthless strife, or the infliction of deeds of 
cold-blooded malignity. There would be a greater 
degree of mutual consideration, and human beings 
would at length regard each other as members of 
the same family. All would be mindful of the 
distresses of their fellows, nor live from day to 
day, as if there were no term to present enjoy- 
ment. 

The influence of the heart on itself, is neither 
slight nor unimportant. He in whom it is moved 
by the gentler impulses of our nature, is thereby 
rendered more prone to virtue ; and he in whom 
one good quality has taken root, is already pre- 
pared for the reception of all. In such, the vir- 
tues are sympathetic, for generous qualities are 
readily imbibed, when similar ones pre-exist in 
the breast. The habitude of good deeds and 
gentle affections, facilitates most powerfully the 
further improvement of the heart. It is easier 
to add many, when there are some virtues, than 
to create one, when there are none. The supe- 
rior feelings are akin to each other; and in pos- 
sessing one, we may hope to gain others. In 
nothing is the influence of habit more conspicu- 
ous. Acts of justice, mercy, pity, and generosity, 



470 ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 

are easiest to him, who is just, merciful, compas- 
sionate, and generous. How often indeed, does 
the presence of a single virtue operate like a 
charm; and the heart being once animated, the 
way is paved for a succession of redeeming 
qualities? It is justly considered a pledge of 
hope, when a prodigal or a criminal exhibits some 
latent trait of excellence; but in the obdurate 
and unfeeling, what is to be expected? The 
tiger cannot change his stripes, or the panther 
his spots, neither can the bad, the hardened, and 
the malignant, at once transmute their natures. 
Monsters of not to be mitigated iniquity, whom 
it would be vain to trust, have been witnessed. 
Such may be controlled by the iron hand of force, 
but to oppose them with gentleness, is madness 
or imbecility. We should have boundless faith 
in the reformation of human debasement ; but we 
should not yield our confidence until improve- 
ment has earned it. In fine, the heart nourishes 
itself, and enlarges the boundaries of its precious 
domain. 

The heart assists the intellect in demonstrating 
God, virtue, and futurity. No man of exalted 
feeling denies the reality of these, though a per- 
son of merely intellectual cultivation, might do so. 
The mind must determine what is false and what 
is true, but a pure and upright heart is necessary to 
encourage, invigorate, and direct. Reason is the su- 
preme arbitrer, but the heart must give the impulse. 
Either, alone, is impotent and faulty — united, 
they display their real strength. We must culti- 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 471 

vate both, in order to obtain the best fruits. This 
is clearly the Supreme will, otherwise it would 
not have been rendered a condition of insupera- 
ble importance. 

A discriminating intellect, and a feeling heart, 
will discern the being and the operations of 
the Almighty, in the universal field of nature — 
no scene is so limited, nor any so extended, as 
not to exhibit both. His existence and wonder- 
ful providence, are not less conspicuous in the 
minutest atom, than in the measureless regions 
of illimitable space. To how many vain and 
preposterous schemes, has not mere intellect, mis- 
led by false analogies, erroneous conceptions, and 
inadequate feeling, given birth? Matter, in the 
ordinary acceptation of the term, has been en- 
dowed with the attributes of Deity; and that 
which in itself, is destitute of volition and intel- 
ligence, has been made the arbiter, and the ori- 
gin, of the beautiful order and regularity which 
the earth displays. Each and all of the pheno- 
mena which surround us, are so many tangible 
evidences — a moral as well as a material revela- 
tion, of the existence of the Divinity, and demand 
nothing but a grateful heart and an intelligent 
mind, to yield conclusive demonstration of the 
most precious, the most elevating, and the most 
consolatory of truths. The mind and feelings as 
we must ever repeat, require equal culture ; for as 
a pure and upright heart affords the best impulses, 
so one that is degraded and perverted, gives ori- 
gin to the worst. Atheism, wretched as it is, is 



472 ON THE INFLUENCE OF. THE HEART. 

perhaps less deplorable than fanaticism : the athe- 
ist may be a coldly moral man, but it is impossi- 
ble for the fanatic in so far as he remains one, to 
arrive at any excellence. 

The discernment of the evidence in favour of 
futurity, no less than that for the existence of the 
Deity, is contingent on the development of head 
and heart. There are many of considerable 
mental, but inferior moral culture, to whom futu- 
rity is a dream. Such cannot believe because of 
insufficient feeling ; they have no heart to direct 
their reason aright, or to turn it to those precious 
considerations that would compel assent. It has 
been providentially ordained, that feeling is in- 
dispensable to the judgment; the very necessity, 
tends to secure a degree of moral excellence that 
could not otherwise exist. Hence, a source of 
consolation under circumstances that otherwise 
would admit of no alleviation. Thus, when a 
feeling and reflecting individual, comes to lose 
some dear relative — a wife, a child, or a devoted 
friend, he turns with a sense of transport to the 
deep assurance which issues from his breast, that 
he shall meet them again. He who discerns in 
all things, the existence and operations of the 
mighty Ruler of the universe, will likewise per- 
ceive that there is a future as much superior to 
the present, as higher capabilities unalloyed by 
the cares, the hindrances, and the vexations of 
earth, must necessitate it to be. The one great 
truth is contingent on the other; and they are 
reciprocally upheld and supported. It is impos- 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 473 

sible to believe in the existence of the Deity, 
without the additional conviction of the immor- 
tality of the human soul. The one renders the 
other necessary, inasmuch as the wise and bene- 
ficent providence of God, involves the perform- 
ance of everything that is good and desirable. 
Now, what can be more so, after the turmoils 
and troubles of life have ceased, than a condition 
of being which gives promise of a perpetual pro- 
gression in wisdom, excellence, and happiness, 
and which permits us to hope that we shall even- 
tually obtain a greater insight into the surpassing 
goodness of that Providence, of which we here 
witness such beautiful, yet comparatively inferior 
displays? Whatever is best for us, must neces- 
sarily take place ; and as the consummation in 
question, is dictated by the utmost degree of in- 
telligence and heart cultivation at which we are 
able to arrive, and consequently, yields evidence 
that it is ordained by the Deity, so we may ven- 
ture to anticipate that an expectation so beauti- 
ful and desirable, has not been inspired in vain. 
Can we indeed, imagine anything so good or so 
wise, as not to be surpassed by the Almighty, 
by so much as His wisdom, and His goodness, 
surpass those of mortal man? It is not enough 
to be actuated by a passive acquiescence in these 
all-important truths; they should dwell with a 
warm and lively conviction in our souls; they 
should become the pervading springs of our daily 
conduct, and actuate us, not less in the fulness of 
health and strength, than in the debility and de- 
eay of disease and death. 



474 ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 

It is the heart which in its inmost recesses, de- 
monstrates and feels the sanction of pure morality ; 
of true religion, self-respect, and respect for hu- 
manity ; of unsullied and holy love towards God 
— in fine, of the three-fold range of the affections 
and duties, as they relate to ourselves, our fellow- 
creatures, and our Maker. Without its influence, 
the performance of duty would be cold and un- 
energetic — there would be power, but not will; 
capacity, but no sufficient motive. Yet, notwith- 
standing all the natural and ordinary aids which 
virtue receives from the certainty of its infinite 
superiority in conducing to our temporal well- 
being, the highest and best sanction will be de- 
rived from a firm and lively faith, in the existence 
and providence of God, and in the sure and 
certain hope of a happy hereafter. We might 
otherwise feel convinced that virtue was our best 
resource, but without this divine confirmation, it 
could no longer exert the same happy influence. 
A belief in the Deity assures us that virtue must 
meet with his approval; and the conviction of 
immortality, that what is good for us here, must 
continue to be so throughout eternity. How 
elevating are these considerations — that what we 
are able to effect in life's short span, shall avail 
us hereafter; and that our sufferings and our 
sacrifices when dictated by principle, are enacted 
in the pervading presence of an approving God? 
Yet we cannot secure these precious results, un- 
less a deep and energetic conviction be united 
with perfect love — for to believe in God, and to 
love him, are one ; and we cannot have an earnest 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 4*J 5 

persuasion in futurity, unless it spring warm and 
gushing from the heart. The intellect and affec- 
tions must be equally defective, when we can 
disbelieve in either; yet even this unhappy situ- 
ation is less deplorable, than that into which 
superstition would plunge us. It would be better 
not to believe in a providence or in futurity, than 
to endow the one with any attributes short of 
those which flow from boundless mercy, wisdom, 
and love ; or to imagine that the other could be 
designed for any purpose, save that of promoting 
the never-ceasing happiness and improvement of 
the beings who are permitted to enjoy it. 

The peculiar privilege of the heart, is to im- 
part grace, gentleness, and beauty, to the dispo- 
sition, and to soften and lessen the harshness of 
character, otherwise apt to subsist. It is consi- 
dered, and justly so, that this is realized more 
frequently with regard to women than men; 
partly, from their different organization, duties 
and habits, and partly, from their being less im- 
mersed in the active struggles of life, as well as 
less frequently perverted by fanaticism and party- 
strife. The very circumstance of being a mother, 
a sister, a daughter or a wife, alone seems 
adequate to the creation of mild, gentle, and re- 
tiring habits. Merely to pass an indiscriminate 
eulogium on women, is not to praise the sex ; their 
real merits call for no adventitious adornment. 
If females are carefully and tenderly brought up ; 
if they be secluded from bad example, and receive 
the benefit of good ; if they acquire sound moral 



476 ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 

and intellectual instruction, from able and con- 
scientious teachers ; if they be treated with kind- 
ness, gentleness, and consideration, and if they 
steadily exert their faculties of head and heart in 
a useful direction — that is to say, in the fulfilment 
of their obligations to themselves, their fellow- 
creatures and their Creator, they will necessarily 
become endowed with a superior character. If 
these means are imperfectly pursued, the result 
will be imperfect ; and if they be perverted, what 
can we anticipate, but proportionate degradation. 
The defects of early education are sometimes re- 
deemed ; but if education and after training are 
both neglected, we cannot expect that nature will 
set up a compensatory process. Why should we 
hope against probabilities ; the laws of our moral, 
are no less peremptory than those of our physical 
nature : and it is only by active, not passive con- 
formity, that we can hope in either case, to reap 
the desired results. Women naturally, are neither 
better nor worse than men: intellectually or 
morally, there is no sex in the mind. Superior 
training has the same good, and its absence, the 
same evil results, in both. If we would have 
either sex as it ought to be, it must be through 
the steady exercise of moral and intellectual 
energy, as grounded on the best possible educa- 
tion. Nature does not respect our artificial dis- 
tinctions : hence, so far as essentials extend, the 
early training of every woman should be alike. 
We should in this case, witness the extension to 
all, of that moral beauty, grace, and dignity, 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEART. 477 

which accrue from the sedulous culture of the heart 
and understanding, and which shed such an inex- 
pressible charm upon the social relations of life. 

We cannot sufficiently enlarge on the innume- 
rable blessings and utilities flowing from moral 
excellence, and which equally extend to every 
condition of human existence. Its influence is 
conspicuous even in the face and form, of which 
the expression when naturally defective, is there- 
by redeemed. On the other hand, individuals in 
whom physical deformity has no existence, may, 
owing to their vices and imperfections, exhibit 
the most repulsive aspect. Moral and intellec- 
tual beauty cannot exist, and cease to display it- 
self; adding fresh charms to physical perfection, 
and lessening or doing away with the ordinary 
tendencies of deformity. As for the co-existence 
of corporeal beauty and moral defects, it is im- 
possible ; the one will necessarily mar and coun- 
teract the other. The vicious and ignorant, 
evince their defects, even in their countenances, 
were their forms and faces in other respects, of 
faultless perfection. There is a propriety, a 
grace, and a harmony, which bespeak their ex- 
istence in every word and deed, as well as in 
every gesture, motion, and attitude. These are 
vainly imitated by those who would gain the ex- 
terior, without the inward charm that realizes it. 
Moral and intellectual beauty is the true beauty 
of humanity, adding inexpressible dignity to every 
individual of either sex, who is so fortunate as to 
rejoice in its possession. 



478 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS, FEEL- 
INGS, AND MORAL CONDUCT, WITH A VIEW TO 
SECURE OUR OWN BEST INTERESTS AND THOSE 
OF OTHERS. 



1. Our duties may be included under three 
general heads — those which regard ourselves; 
those which regard others ; and those which re- 
gard the Deity. A threefold division also, ex- 
tends to our duties to ourselves — as they refer to 
the cultivation and the exercise of our physical, 
our intellectual, and our moral capabilities. 

I. The importance of physical training has 
been already dwelt upon; superior corporeal, is 
necessary to superior moral and intellectual de- 
velopment. Some come into the world so de- 
fectively endowed, that they inevitably perish; 
with care however, inferior constitutions improve, 
while those that are sound, are maintained so. 
Multitudes are cut off in early life, or grow up 
into a rickety and defective manhood. It is 
melancholy to witness the sickly aspect of the 
children which throng our factories, or swarm 
ill-fed and ill-clothed, in the various streets and 
lanes. There should not be one physical educa- 
tion for the rich and another for the poor, unless 
it can be shewn that heat and cold, light and 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 479 

moisture, food and raiment, air and exercise, act 
differently upon each. It is but trite to urge 
that both should be provided with the comforts 
and appliances, that ensure health, vigour, and 
length of life. The young of no creature is so 
helpless as that of man ; nor is there any of the 
inferior animals whose existence is so precarious, 
or so dependent on artificial ministerings. Should 
not our race in infancy then, be equally cared 
for, nor left to the inadequate efforts of a poor, 
and perhaps weak and destitute woman, or to 
those of an ill-employed and imperfectly requited 
man? Indeed, since some have ventured to de- 
clare, that the destruction of human beings by 
cold, hunger, and destitution, was a resource of 
nature for keeping down their numbers, indivi- 
duals who formerly would have been ashamed to 
blazon their inhumanity, are provided with an 
unblushing pretext. The education of the youth 
of both sexes, and of all ranks ; their due provi- 
sion with proper food, clothing, and shelter, and 
the gentle exercise of their corporeal powers, are 
not only essential in themselves, but preparatory 
to superior moral and intellectual training. 

II. All young persons should have their grow- 
ing powers properly directed and gently stimu- 
lated from the earliest period. Over-exertion is 
apt to lead to satiety and disgust, and the con- 
trary, to mental torpor and imbecility. The im- 
provement of his faculties must flow from the 
child's own efforts ; it is an error equally hurtful, 
to hurry them too fast, or to leave them in disue- 



480 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

tude. We cannot sufficiently urge the necessity 
of a superior education for every class ; one that 
will make good and useful members of society, and 
qualify for the comprehension and the practice 
of those great rules of morality, from the re- 
ception and observance of which, humanity de- 
rives its greatest gain and highest glory. Nature 
has not endowed the rich with one kind of in- 
tellect, and the poor with another : the mind is 
the same in both, with the same capabilities, and 
the same capacity for improvement. The poor 
man however, labours under a still greater in- 
cumbency to improve his condition; he has to 
struggle with the elements, and with the various 
difficulties of his social position ; he has also to 
acquire knowledge, and to possess some idea of 
his destiny here and hereafter, and he has to con- 
template his relations with his fellows, and with 
the great Creator. All these things involve an 
education of the most superior description. To 
be happy, or efficiently useful, the essentials, not 
the mere rudiments of information must be com- 
municated. The exigencies of life will for a long 
time, prevent the communication of superfluous 
acquisitions, but moral and intellectual culture 
can never be reckoned among these. In fine, it 
is impossible to attend to it too closely, commen- 
surately with the wants, and the destination of 
mankind. 

III. The necessity of the joint cultivation of 
all our capabilities, is ever to be insisted on ; for 
if any portion of our better nature be neglected — 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 481 

if we sacrifice the whole to a part, degradation 
is the inevitable result. We are so constituted, 
that it is impossible to make the most of humanity 
without the improvement of every faculty- In 
individual instances, our powers will doubtless, 
require to be pushed further in some directions, 
than in others ; but independent of this, there is 
a culture which all should receive, and which 
ensures the greatest general fitness for the duties 
of life. When we go into detail however, and 
estimate the relative importance of the different 
branches of human development, we perceive 
that that of the heart claims superlative pre-emi- 
nence. This it is, which confers honour and 
dignity upon us, both as human beings and as 
individuals, and to which, of all other things, 
reverence and precedence are to be accorded. 
Seeing then, its inestimable value, it is impossible 
to sow the seeds of moral excellence too early, 
or to foster and nourish its growth, with too much 
tenderness and assiduity. There is not one sort 
of cultivation for the affluent, and another for the 
poor, since the requirements of humanity are 
alike. Charity, moderation, fortitude, and magna- 
nimity, cannot be one thing in one station of life, 
and another thing, in another. The knowledge 
of duty, as a melancholy experience shews, is not 
always sufficiont; but when to this, good habits 
and the love of duty are conjoined, comparative 
excellence is secured. Yet moral knowledge is 
of vast importance to the cause of virtue; 
directing her steps in doubtful cases, and under 

H H 



482 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

all circumstances, securing the powerful and un- 
assailable suffrage of reason. Although child- 
hood and youth are periods in which morality 
can be but imperfectly understood as a science, 
they are most precious for the inculcation of that 
unbounded love and habitual practice of virtue, 
which are to accompany us throughout our career. 
Children cannot be too early taught a reverence 
for truth ; to connect pleasure with its observance, 
and pain with the contrary. How far artificial 
means are available, is a question of deep interest. 
It is better to inflict pain than to permit the 
growth of vice; but it is to carry the instru- 
mentality of the former too far, if virtue be need- 
lessly associated with suffering. Well-meant, but 
injudicious severity, even in the hands of anxious 
instructors, too often forfeits its objects; while 
innocent childhood is made the scene of so much 
misery and vexation, as to induce a feeling of 
deep regret that that which is so good and ex- 
cellent in itself, should ever be inculcated by 
such a process. Children are sadly often exposed 
to the influence of depreciatory agents, and too 
frequently come under the hand of the instructor 
in a state so vitiated, as to call for all the means 
of repression which lie in his power. From igno- 
rance among parents and instructors as to the 
laws and operations of the human mind, character 
is often mistaken, and individuals who might 
have been imbued with every virtue, are plunged 
into almost remediless degradation. The vene- 
ration and the habitual observance of virtue, so 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 483 

essential to our highest dignity and welfare, are 
best ensured by the loving kindness and unassail- 
able firmness which are the most efficient charac- 
teristics of the instructor. 

Practical morality above all other things, is to 
be inculcated in youth. It lays a foundation for 
the association of pleasure with duty, as well as 
for the formation of correct habits. The option 
of performing or of neglecting duty, is not to be 
permitted. The obligation should be peremptory. 
Needless restraint is to be avoided, but every 
deviation should be marked and rectified. If 
artificial control be perpetually interposed, the 
child's feeble powers cannot well be strengthened. 
There is a certain medium between doing too 
much or too little; let us only not ruin the child 
by neglect, or stunt his powers by perpetual in- 
terference. Can anything be more miserable 
than the chiding and grinding oppression to which 
so many young creatures are subjected ? A 
sufficient range of action is not permitted ; hence 
among other reasons, the rarity of moral energy 
and determination of purpose. The freedom 
here contended for, would require a degree of 
intelligence and moral culture, which teachers 
and parents do not generally possess. Beneficial 
changes however, will ensue by degrees ; and as 
preparatory to them, I would urge that children 
should be treated a little more as rational beings 
— weak and imperfect indeed, but still rational ; 
and that continual and duly graduated appeals 
should be made to their moral and intellectual 



484 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

powers. For it is impossible to insist too earnestly, 
or too frequently, on the vital truth, that it is by 
self-exertion, that character is to be strengthened 
and developed in youth, or maintained and per- 
fected in more advanced age. 

Let us cultivate the youthful heart both by 
precept and example ; let us detail frequent cases 
of virtuous conduct — of instances of sacrifices to 
principle, and of the forfeiture of present advanta- 
ges to secure future good. Let us steep the soul 
in an intimate conviction of the excellence of 
wisdom and virtue ; and let us shew continually, 
that the highest and best happiness consists in 
acting up to principle for its own sake, and in 
cultivating those feelings of rational self-approval, 
which afford so precious a requital for all the 
sufferings, and all the inflictions to which their 
maintenance may at times expose us. It is good 
for children to know the rules of duty, and to be 
able to express them in fitting language; unless 
however, they be appreciated and acted up to, 
such lip-service will be of little avail. No, they 
must be felt by the heart, more than uttered by 
the voice ; they must be appropriated and assimi- 
lated as part of the moral nature, and made the 
ground-work and the corner-stone of the whole 
man. This is to be moral — the rest is a dream. 
Bad example should be shunned as poison ; to the 
unformed it is replete with desolation and ruin. 
To what else is it owing, that the vices and de- 
fects of one generation, are handed as heir-looms 
in perpetual succession, to the next? If the in- 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 485 

fluence of vicious and degrading example could 
be removed, the greatest source of human depra- 
vity would be done away with, and man would 
march forward in a continual progression of truth 
and excellence. Young people are often imbued 
with vices and defects at schools — the more in- 
nocent are corrupted, or their simplicity receives 
a taint, which it can never wash away. When 
children are kept at home, how are they to be 
prevented from associating with inferior charac- 
ters, or secluded from the too frequently polluting 
influence of servitude ? Still, much may be done 
to avert bad example; and everything that a 
deep conviction would dictate, of the sacred trust 
which parents and instructors are called on to dis- 
charge, should be rigidly enforced. Thus, by suc- 
cessive efforts, generation after generation would 
improve, until at length, the defects which charac- 
terize our race, would perhaps appear no more. 

We should be singularly cautious, lest in at- 
tempting to forewarn, we make the child acquainted 
with vices that he might never have known. It 
is easy to blunt irreparably, that fine sense of moral 
delicacy which it is so desirable that we should 
retain through life. The influence of imitation, 
whether for good or for ill, is enormous. Com- 
pared with superior example, precept sinks almost 
into nullity. It is above all things desirable, 
that the child should come in contact with good 
conduct, and that every one with whom he is 
connected, should be truthful, moral, kind-hearted, 
and intelligent. How would it be possible in 



486 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

this case, to contract anything that was vicious, 
inasmuch as it would be the necessary and bles- 
sed tendency of such a happy position, to suffer 
nothing inferior to be imbibed. There is no well- 
spring of error in the human heart; if indeed, 
that which was accidental, was lapsed into, 
it would be speedily effaced, and vice itself would 
exist but in name. It is difficult however, con- 
stituted as society now is, even for wealth, wis- 
dom, or power, wholly to secure a child from the 
risk of contamination ; still it is allowable to pause 
on the efficacy of good example — to insist upon 
its advantages, and to realize them to the utmost. 
Let us connect pleasant feelings with the per- 
formance of duty, that thus the unavoidable aspe- 
rities which sometimes strew the path, may not 
only be diminished to the utmost, but associated 
with as many pleasures as circumstances will per- 
mit. Why should not the localities of instruc- 
tion, and the haunts of children, be made as 
agreeable as possible, and provided with as many 
innocent adornments, as good taste and sound 
sense would dictate, or the means of individuals 
allow. Their apartments should be cheerful, 
lofty, well- ventilated, and warm: they should 
open upon gardens or the pleasant fields; while 
models, pictures, and the statues and portraits of 
the wise and good, should adorn the walls. If 
the incessant activity of children were properly 
directed in leisure hours, it would find ample 
scope in scientific recreation, and in the different 
arts and mechanic employments. Young persons 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 487 

thus occupied, would feel little impulse towards 
those acts of mischief and petty devastation, to 
which carelessness or ignorance so often con- 
demns them. An energetic and encouraging 
cheerfulness on the part of teachers, is a power- 
ful element in subduing that distraction and men- 
tal weariness to which youth is sometimes liable. 
As for those whose very hearts and souls are not 
wrapped up in love and sympathy for the moral 
and intellectual welfare of their charge, they are 
little fitted for the great business of instruction. 
It is no portion of our task to make young people 
disgusted with improvement, or weary and sick 
with that period of existence, which should only 
be replete with innocence and joy. As to the 
association of mental occupation with mere ani- 
mal pleasures, or making these a reward for 
those, it is wholly to be deprecated. Such should 
be yielded by the way, and never held out as in- 
centives to exertion. The great object is to 
induce a love of occupation for its own sake, as 
well as for the eventual pleasures and advantages 
which accrue from it. And it should be the un- 
flagging effort of every teacher who has the pre- 
sent and eternal interests of the beings committed 
to his care at heart, to inculcate by precept, illus- 
tration, and example, the unspeakable advantage 
of loving duty in every form, and of looking up- 
on a rigidly bestowed self-approval, as a better 
earnest and a higher reward of virtue, than the 
possession of all the gratifications of sense. 

Too much stress cannot be laid on the cultiva- 



488 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

tion ef easily accessible moral pleasures, and on 
the exercise of our sympathies in every direction 
that circumstances will permit. No condition of 
humanity — neither destitution nor riches, obscu- 
rity nor power, excludes the performance of our 
duty to ourselves and others; nor is there any 
thing which affords higher or more lasting gra- 
tifications. Hence children should be led to de- 
light in the better feelings of their nature, and in 
the acquisition of knowledge in every form ; while 
their affections should be turned by every avail- 
able means, in the direction of goodness and ex- 
cellence. It is not enough to prescribe given 
feelings on such and such occasions — the too com- 
mon error of preceptive morality ; practical mea- 
sures must be taken to realize them. Gentleness 
and goodwill, firmness and justice, should be dis- 
played by the teacher, and encouraged in the 
child. It would be impossible for the continual 
manifestation of such qualities, not to generate 
the most noble and amiable characteristics. The 
nature of the human mind, and the history of our 
race, equally prove it. Never has man or wo- 
man of superior endowments adorned the scene 
of life, in whom they were not thus produced. 
How could we indeed, experience unmoved, the 
display of never-ceasing kindness and love. This 
is the golden secret which is to regenerate the 
world, and to create in man while young, those 
precious habits, and inward tendencies, that 
would make him happy in himself, and a blessing 
to his kind. The faculties of the child should be 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 489 

strengthened by exercise, and by submitting to 
his decision, questions suited to his tender powers. 
In this way, an all-important principle would be 
strengthened, and a continually increasing fund 
of knowledge, power, and excellence, provided 
for after years. 

Fortitude, forbearance, and energy, should be 
cultivated from the earliest periods, not only with 
regard to things physical, but things moral — to 
the vicissitudes of the elements, as well as the 
stormy and tumultuous manifestations of human 
passion. The one helps the other, and he who 
can bear unmoved, the turbulence of the former, 
is in part prepared to encounter the din and strife 
of the latter. Thus, the youth and even the child, 
should be occasionally habituated to loss of sleep, 
food, and rest, as well as to encounter cold, hunger, 
and fatigue. These trials must be cheerfully 
undergone, else they cannot serve the end in 
view. To conduct them properly, the teacher 
must be acquainted with the physiology of both 
mind and frame. He must in fact, be all in all 
with his pupils; identifying himself with, and 
leading them from task to task, and from diffi- 
culty to difficulty; encountering the same priva- 
tions, and undergoing the same exertions. The 
mind cannot adequately form itself, but requires 
the continual aid of a highly moral, intelligent, and 
loving guide. Restrictions however, can have 
no value in themselves; they are only useful by 
guarding against vice, and by familiarizing the 
learner betimes, with the crosses and the cares of 



490 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

life. A wholesome indifference should be early 
inspired with regard to delicacies and luxuries; 
it should be impressed that their possession yields 
no merit, and their absence no demerit; in fine, 
that they form no part of the dignity of elevated 
human nature, or have any connexion with our 
everlasting interests. 

Although the discipline just recommended, 
contributes to the formation of character, it is to 
an extent subordinate to the more direct exercise 
of the heart itself. The child should be ac- 
customed to rebuke, contradiction, and the impu- 
tation of error. These will be justly apportioned 
by the rigid teacher ; but the learner will thereby 
be prepared to bear with firmness, undeserved 
inflictions, and the ill-treatment of the unworthy, 
the malevolent, and the unjust; not with in- 
difference indeed, but with charity and moral 
courage. These are things which every wise and 
good man must anticipate, as they are in some 
sort, the complement of his knowledge, his wisdom, 
and his goodness. It will be a superior stretch 
of improvement when the young have learned 
their duty, not only towards the just and good, but 
to the wicked, the ignorant, and the base ; making 
allowance for their errors, but not yielding to 
their defects — compassionating the individual, but 
abhorring the crime. This will lead to that calm- 
ness and equability of temper, which is founded 
on moral discrimination, patience, and self-respect, 
mingled with a due regard for the weaknesses and 
the infirmities of others. The child should be 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 491 

led to the practice of what is good, and so far as 
his little means permit, to succour the poor, the 
wretched, and the oppressed. Youth is the period 
for inculcating charity ; and provided it be exer- 
cised with gentleness, sympathy, and the utter 
absence of ostentation, few virtues more fitly 
adorn the heart. It is needless to urge the ne- 
cessity of impressing on all occasions, the deepest 
love and respect towards parents, brethren, 
friends, and instructors, as well as humanity at 
large ; and more especially towards the good, the 
wise, and the beneficent, of every age and clime. 
The kind attentions of the one, and the virtuous 
deeds of the other, should be treasured up in the 
heart for contemplation and imitation. In fine, 
every means that united wisdom and benevolence 
can suggest, should be employed to create and 
promote self-reliance and virtuous energy, as well 
as the habits and duties which it becomes human 
beings to learn and to practise through life. All 
things should be made subservient to religion and 
morality — the bodily powers and the capabilities 
of the understanding, varied and wonderful though 
they be, must not be cultivated at the expense of 
the heart. This last in its purity and excellence, 
is the cynosure to which all other things should 
turn; its elevation is the first and the last — the 
beginning and the end, towards which all our 
strivings whether social or individual, should be 
directed, and without which, there is nothing in 
humanity adequate to develope the superlative 
capabilities of our immortal nature. The culti- 



492 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

vation of science and art, should be pursued with 
the intimate conviction that there are things of 
greater weight — the acquirements and the duties 
which ennoble us on earth, and qualify us for 
eternity. Such should be attended to with the 
abiding conviction that we are placed in this 
world for purposes which we are not at liberty 
to omit or evade, and of which the better or the 
worse performance, elevates or degrades us ac- 
cordingly. Children should be incessantly en- 
couraged to think on the Supreme Being, to 
praise him — to dwell on his perfections, his 
wisdom, his goodness, and his continual presence 
— to refer all things to him, and to make con- 
formity to his will the leading object of existence. 
Thus heightened and purified, the gentle emotions 
of our nature would be centred in Him ; and as 
their cultivation redounds to the adoration and 
the love of God, so this most excellent and 
mighty affection, would be reflected back upon 
them, elevating us as to ourselves, and purifying 
and enhancing in endless forms, the relations 
which we hold with our fellows. 

III. It will be apparent that our duties to our- 
selves as men, are in many respects identical 
with the preceding. It is the part of every one to 
maintain his faculties in as much activity, health, 
and strength as possible — in fine, to cultivate his 
nature in every practicable direction: not in 
youth alone, but in adult life, and not in the 
latter only, but in advanced age. What is all 
this, it may be asked, to tend to — wherefore the 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 493 

prodigious activity that is here enjoined? To 
which it may be replied, that it is worthy of our 
highest dignity as rational and moral beings ; that 
it is calculated to make us more happy in our- 
selves, and useful to our fellows ; that it augments 
the real duration of human life, and that while it 
places us in more elevated relations with our 
Creator, prepares us for the advent of eternity. 
We might indeed, vegetate on and on, taking 
small note of the present, and caring little for the 
future ; but is this happiness — is this our destina- 
tion, or are we to strive how ignorant, how indo- 
lent, and how useless, we may prove to ourselves 
and others? Still, if we do not strive to be so, 
it comes virtually to the same thing, we remain 
so — we make no efforts to attain a higher po- 
sition. We are so formed through the bounty of 
Providence, that existence without some obser- 
vance of the moral law is impossible ; but are we 
to content ourselves with a bare sufficiency, when 
such admirable results may be realized by further 
effort ? Utter neglect of the regulations of our 
being, is indeed incompatible with the continuance 
of life ; but we are bound to exert ourselves in 
every direction to the utmost, since by so doing, 
we shall raise ourselves to a degree of moral 
supremacy, virtue, and happiness, which has been 
imaged forth by a few individuals, but never 
achieved by any entire community. 

Let pleasurable feelings be connected with 
useful and proper duties ; let cheerful and happy 
associations be cultivated — purity, truth, and mo- 



494 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

ral excellence ; and let us exercise ourselves in 
every duty that is calculated to improve the 
heart. We should endeavour to lay up a store 
of moral judgments, so that no exigency could 
meet us unprepared. Let us cherish praise- 
worthiness more than praise, and reputability 
more than repute. In the possession of the rea- 
lity, we shall experience a satisfaction which all 
the honours of the world, without real deserving, 
could never bestow. Let us cultivate rational 
self-respect, and avoid arrogance, self-conceit, 
and pride, with all our might ; and let us be tem- 
perate, disinterested, prudent, and chaste, in 
everything that concerns either body or mind. 
It is incumbent on us to be enthusiastic in behalf 
of virtue ; and it is not less so, to promote in our- 
selves by every practicable means, moral courage, 
fortitude, and energy. Our duty may lead us to 
encounter every sort of evil — calumny, loss of 
fortune, friends, country, health, and life, with 
equanimity and cheerfulness, when principle re- 
quires the sacrifice. That such conduct is often 
attended with acute, though temporary suffering, 
is what cannot be denied ; but then, it must never 
be lost sight of, that it is in conformity with the 
highest dictates of our nature, obedience to which 
is sure to be attended with its own reward. 
When the patriot sacrifices property and life in 
opposition to domestic faction or foreign enmity, 
he gives away along with these possessions, many 
others that men hold dear — wife and child, pa- 
rent and friend. By acting up to a principle 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 495 

however, which enjoins the loss of one for the 
good of many, he displays the magnanimity of 
which our nature is capable ; for where is the 
man who would not yield all that he was pos- 
sessed of, to promote the happiness and security 
of the community to which he belongs? The 
soldier marches to the battle-front with a willing 
heart, ready to live or die as the dictates of duty 
may demand. And in the moral struggle be- 
tween good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, 
the philanthropist plants himself undauntedly in 
the breach, and regardless of the assaults of a 
merciless enemy, fights pursuant to his noble 
mission, in behalf of the best interests of man- 
kind. After all, no one however powerful or 
malignant, can take away our knowledge or our 
moral qualities ; and it is our part ever to pro- 
mote them in ourselves and others, at whatever 
expenditure of material possessions, the urgency 
of circumstances may demand. For if our chief 
good had resided in these, they would have been 
rendered unassailable ; but it is plain that it con- 
sists in those endowments which raise man above 
his fellows, ennoble him in this world, and qua- 
lify him for the next. 

Pleasure, whether mental or corporeal, is not 
the rule of life, but duty only. Yet he who 
attends most assiduously to the latter, will have 
the greatest probability of realizing the former; 
not physical pleasure perhaps, but certainly mo- 
ral. In the moderate gratification of their appe- 
tites — in exercise, temperance, and regularity, and 



496 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

in the contemplation of the magnificence of na- 
ture, the virtuous will find ample sources of ma- 
terial enjoyment. In such indeed, it is under 
the guidance of principle, united with knowledge 
and moral purity; and as much surpasses the 
short-lived, feverish excesses of the voluptuary, 
as truth exceeds falsehood, virtue vice, or health 
disease. It would indeed, be an incomprehensible 
arrangement, were health and physical well-being 
not more frequently allied with good conduct than 
with ill; that it is so, let the dreary annals of 
vice, intemperance, and debauchery, declare. Let 
us participate in the goods of life with moderation, 
as things in which our real dignity does not reside, 
and of which the presence does not secure ex- 
cellence, nor the absence vice. Riches should 
not be looked upon as the instruments of selfish 
aggrandizement, but as agents for promoting the 
well-being, and alleviating the miseries of man- 
kind. In misfortune and poverty, we should re- 
collect that it is not wealth that constitutes happi- 
ness or real excellence, but knowledge and vir- 
tuous conduct. Competence is desirable as the 
instrument of rational enjoyment, and as a means 
of good, but it is not to be sought for at the ex- 
pense of principle. Virtuous poverty is better 
than wealthy vice. Ill-gotten gains are a curse 
to the possessor, and can never serve the pur- 
poses of a truthful mind. Whatever inflictions 
we may labour under, there is a certain course 
of duty incumbent on us as men, most conform- 
able to our condition here, and to our destination 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 4Q7 

hereafter. There is nothing so well calculated 
to diminish the pressure of evil, as the earnest 
conviction that virtue and excellence may be 
maintained uninterrupted. If indeed, misfortune 
rendered us wicked or ignorant, we might com- 
plain, but it has no such tendency. When dear 
Mends have been removed, it is in conformity 
with the laws of Providence ; for unless these take 
their course — unless sickness and death pursue 
their path, there could neither be health, nor life, 
nor being. Without death, no one could come 
into the world, nor could there be any accession 
to the infinite hosts of spiritual beings, among 
whom, we hope and believe that we shall flourish 
for ever, inseparably united with the wise and 
good. As for disease and decay, they are neces- 
sarily contingent on our earthly state — the means 
and condition of our mortal existence. Doubt- 
less, we must labour under bitter grief when loved 
friends go from us; but still, we are not without 
consolation — the soothing hand of time, and 
above all, the firm and unrelaxing conviction, 
that we and they are equally included within the 
range of the wise and just providence of God, 
will allay our sorrow however seemingly unap- 
peasable. This conviction indeed, is an all-suf- 
ficient comfort, since it assures us that no portion 
of His creatures remains uncared for, and that 
the very existence of universal laws, infers the 
comprehension of every living thing within their 
grasp. Weak and imperfect as we are, we shall 
often find it difficult to raise our hearts with firm- 

i i 



498 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

ness to this mighty source of comfort ; but we 
should nevertheless, do all in our power to main- 
tain an unceasing trust in the unerring wisdom 
and goodness of God. The assurances which 
flow from this ; the very necessity, notwithstand- 
ing our transitory pains and sufferings, that all 
must eventually become good and happy as they 
successively fulfil their respective destinations, is a 
consideration more than adequate to raise the 
soul from the lowest dregs of desolation and dis- 
tress. It is one, however, which is best appre- 
ciated by pure hearted and trustful individuals. 
I know not whether human nature is capable of 
going the lengths which some would enjoin— that 
we should not even wish the cessation of the ut- 
most misery to which it might be possible for us 
to be exposed ; but certain it is, that after we have 
done our best, and excited our energies to the 
utmost, the persuasion here inculated, is emi- 
nently calculated to comfort and re-assure us un- 
der the pressure of the heaviest calamities. 

Sacrifices to principle are never to be regret- 
ted; and when pursuant to its injunctions we re- 
linquish present good, the privation is repaid a 
thousand fold. No prospect of worldly gain, 
whether immediate or remote, should induce us 
to swerve from the path of equity; to incur the 
risk of moral pollution, or to violate that purity 
the possession of which is the most precious jewel 
of the human soul. This is to be promoted by 
knowledge, not ignorance, by the due regulation 
of our passions and desires, by a correct view of 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 499 

the objects and ends of life, and by the energetic 
performance of what is just and right. Virtue 
cannot be realized without an effort; nor good 
habits without a struggle against ill. If we would 
arrive at excellence, we must resist evil in every 
form ; we must oppose error, vice, and oppression ; 
in fine, we must perform our duty to our fellow- 
creatures and to ourselves. It is equally neces- 
sary to free our minds from all the defects that 
would impede the increase of our knowledge, and 
the progress of our hearts. Let us associate with 
the wise and good for our own advantage, and 
with the ignorant and vicious for theirs. Let us 
estimate justly, the respective claims of a life of 
action and one of meditation, and assign to each 
a fitting portion of our energies ; and let us strike 
the balance between the cultivation of the heart 
and that of the understanding, so as to promote 
to the greatest extent, the well-being of both. 
Let us disunite ourselves for ever, from error, 
vice, and iniquity, and endeavour to secure the 
performance of our duty while yet we live and 
move. A strong sense of accountability to the 
laws of our moral, intellectual, and physical na- 
ture, is ever to be cultivated; since we shall 
thereby impress on our hearts and souls, that 
strict obedience which will best promote our own 
happiness, and that of others, as well as avoid the 
misery, the degradation, and the vice, which de- 
solate the world. It is thus, by the performance 
of duty under all its different aspects, that we 
shall act up to the dignity of human nature, and 



500 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

to the capabilities with which we have been so 
liberally endowed ; and after having conducted 
ourselves in all respects, in conformity with the 
providence of God, that we shall die as we have 
lived, in the full conviction that the ineffable 
wisdom, benevolence, and power of which we 
have been vouchsafed so magnificent a demon- 
stration in this life, shall be surpassed by a still 
greater display in the next. 

2. Let us cultivate cheerful, kind, and happy 
relations with others, and do all we can to alle- 
viate the sorrows, the sufferings, and the toils to 
which all are more or less exposed. Our love 
for humanity should be co-extensive with the ex- 
istence of our race ; and no child of man should 
be so poor, so wretched, or so destitute, as to 
be unworthy of our warmest sympathy and regard. 
There are some vices in relation to our fellows, 
so low, so gross, so mean, that it would almost 
seem impossible for any one to incur the imputa- 
tion ; among these, slander and defamation stand 
pre-eminent. If the poor wretch, who, perhaps, 
to avert starvation, abstracts a little of the ma- 
terial of life, is severely punished, of what is not 
that conduct deserving, which goes to annihilate 
our mutual trust, and to sap the foundations of 
social existence ? Slander and detraction, in all 
their ramifications, are a cankering evil, and tend 
to poison the sources, and to diminish the amount 
of human happiness. Such are their usual guise, 
but wretched as they are in this, there is yet 
another, which is as much more despicable, as the 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 501 

well-being of the great family of mankind exceeds 
in importance that of individuals. Ordinary 
slander singles out its victims one by one, but 
this of which I speak, assails the noble charac- 
teristics of humanity in the gross, and wages war 
against the interests of the species at large. 
Envy, selfishness, meanness, and the herd of baser 
passions, may lead to personal aggressions; but 
when these sinister influences presume to raise 
their fronts against the majesty of human nature, 
they merit measureless opposition, detestation, 
and contempt. It will be obvious that I allude 
to the false and calumnious assaults, to which 
beneficence, benevolence, and enlightenment, have 
ever been subject, on the part of the ignorant, the 
malignant, and the base. The retardation of im- 
provement that has arisen from this source, it is 
impossible to calculate ; but it makes one sigh to 
think how the wise and good — those whose ex- 
ample and influence might have led to the practice 
of every virtue, have thus been opposed in their 
career. Such opponents are not to be conci- 
liated; submission to error, vice, and ignorance, 
only leads to further aggression, and to a more 
unsparing enmity. The man of probity, wisdom, 
and enlightenment, should never yield, but per- 
severe with unshrinking firmness in the advocacy 
of the everlasting interests of his race. Igno- 
rance and error are only to be extinguished by 
knowledge and truth — superstition and fanati- 
cism, by true religion ; while the opposition which 
the one ever manifests towards the other, must 



502 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

be subdued by the unceasing exercise of that 
indomitable moral courage, which is based upon 
the firm conviction of the sacred objects which 
create and maintain it. 

Let us be mindful of those lesser virtues to the 
existence of which, society owes so much of its 
charm — courtesy, gentleness, and urbanity. The 
politeness which is not regulated by principle, is 
but hollow trickery — a shadow without the sub- 
stance. Efforts to please that are based on 
intelligence and moral feeling, will ever be suc- 
cessful. There is nothing in the practice of 
virtue which calls for austerity, and their pre- 
tensions are to be narrowly weighed, who would 
associate morality with gloom. We are required 
to bear and to forbear ; if character be formed 
to a large extent for, as well as by the individual, 
it should assuredly lead us to transfer the hatred, 
contempt, and indignation, with which vice so 
naturally inspires us, from the criminal to the 
crime, as well as to the causes which have ope- 
rated in its production. I ask no paltering with 
iniquity — it is hateful in every form, and preju- 
dicial to the dearest interests of our kind; but 
while we combat it with our best energies, let us 
not forget what is due to humanity in the person 
of the offender. This is more especially neces- 
sary when we are called upon to oppose those 
evil qualities, that would arrogate the power of 
inflicting pain and misery upon the fallacious pre- 
text of doing good. We should be cautious how 
we frame our conclusions; things which at first 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 503 

sight appear blameable, are often not so in real- 
ity. We incur a high degree of reproach, when 
we impute unworthy motives and conduct to per- 
sons incapable of entertaining the one, or of per- 
petrating the other. The wise and good are 
peculiarly aware of the infirmity of our nature, 
and are the more ready to make allowances ; but 
the little-minded, the fanatical, and the base, en- 
tertain no scruples, but asperse characters, often 
immeasurably their superiors, with wanton and 
gratuitous malignity. 

Let us help the poor, the hungry, the ignorant, 
the afflicted, and the oppressed; let us do them 
all the good we can, and if it be possible, make 
the burthen of life sit light and easy on them. 
How much distress is there in the world, how 
much misery that might be relieved if we would 
but attend to the evil which lies in our path ? The 
greater portion of this, as it is generated by 
artificial causes, might be removed by the efforts 
of individuals, or by the collective agency of 
society. Much good assuredly, is effected in this 
very way, but not enough. That this is so, let 
us ask our own hearts — let us look to the un- 
succoured woe that everywhere abounds. Men 
may contend for improvements in government, 
and for those other changes which appear so 
brilliant in the perspective ; but meanwhile, we 
live and die, we enjoy the pleasures, and taste 
the miseries of life. Oh, let us not pause for the 
dim uncertain future, to do the good which the 
fleeting moments place within our grasp, but 



504 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

succour the hungry, the fatherless, and the op- 
pressed, while light and life remain. For our 
time is hurrying fast away, and the period must 
come quickly round, in which we may only have 
the wretched consciousness that we had energies 
which we did not exert, and means which we did 
not apply. Let us then, while yet we may, do 
what we can to smooth the path of life, and to 
extend our beneficence to every human being 
who may stand in need of it. A good deed is 
never lost : even if it do not inspire gratitude in 
the object, it fosters the seeds of mercy, justice, 
and excellence, in the doer. Let us then, stretch 
a helping hand to our fellows in distress, and so 
far as may be, assist the wretched and miserable 
of every land. Let us live the lives of men, nor 
suffer the grave to close over us, uncheered by 
the conviction that we had deserved well of man- 
kind. 

We should rise superior to the conventions of 
society, so often as they are founded on injustice. 
There is a respect which we owe to humanity in 
every form, which we ought never to withhold. 
Is our fellow-creature, poor, old, blind, lame ; is 
he ignorant, vicious, superstitious, or fanatical ; he 
is still our fellow-creature — still to be loved, 
cherished, and respected, in virtue of his humanity. 
Oh, let us not heap degradation on degradation, 
nor add a deeper disgrace to misery and wretch- 
edness. Poor human nature has enough to bear, 
even in its worst disguises, and it is not the part 
of goodness, wisdom, or philanthropy, to increase 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 505 

the load. There is something more worthy of 
respect than riches, or dignities, or power ; and 
that is man himself. No creature is so vicious, 
that under happier auspices, might not have been 
reared to excellence — that might not have had 
the seeds of knowledge and virtue so implanted 
in his breast, as to have afterwards expanded into 
those glorious energies that distinguish man from 
his fellows, and raise him above the brute. Some 
hapless beings indeed, are born with an organiza- 
tion so defective, that their senses are inadequate 
to convey those elementary impressions upon 
which knowledge is founded; but such are ex- 
ceptions to the general rule, and bear but a small 
proportion to the mass of mankind. Next to his 
duties to the Deity, his immediate friends and 
relatives, every one should be early impressed 
with the necessity of respect for humanity ; never 
forgetting that it is man whom he is to honour, 
and not merely trappings and decorations that 
have little reference to personal worth. Thus, 
we should not witness the revolting spectacle of 
ill-treatment towards others, on the part of the 
young — a malevolence that is unnatural, as it is 
precocious. Neither should we see that ill- 
founded courtesy which displays itself in hollow 
politeness towards the rich and opulent, and in 
contumely and insult, or at any rate, contempt 
and indifference, towards the poor. It is not 
always easy perhaps, to practise the lesson here 
inculcated, because it is difficult to recognize our 
degraded nature, under its various disguises ; but 



506 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

if we strongly bear in mind, that the worst and 
most wretched, because most vicious of our 
species, might under other circumstances, have 
acquired a diametrically opposite character, it 
will go far to inspire us with the proper senti- 
ments — compassion towards the offender, but 
aversion for the crime. 

It is our duty, so far as it may lie in our power, 
to diffuse information in every form — whether to 
communicate what is new, or to promulgate what 
is old. Our attempts must always be more or 
less successful; since, as it has been often said, 
every effort in the dissemination of knowledge, 
discovers some channel through which it never 
penetrated before. This is peculiarly true with 
regard to books, of which every one who produces 
a good one, bestows an imperishable treasure on 
society. How many, for example, as revolving 
years have passed away, have been comforted 
and instructed by the unbending energy of an 
Epictetus, the sweetly-flowing wisdom of an Aure- 
lius, or the sublime disquisitions of a Plato? 
And how many in different ages and nations, 
have cheered the burthen of life with their pre- 
cious philosophy — some handing down their names 
in pleasant remembrance, and others, their 
thoughts, albeit the former have perished in the 
stream of time ? 

It is our duty then, to instruct our fellows in 
everything that we know, and if there be any 
truth in science relating to their physical, their 
intellectual, or their moral welfare, to make 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 507 

them acquainted with it. Whether we do this or 
not, it is certain that there are other powerful in- 
structors — that circumstances, as they include 
the operations of nature, and the rules and regu- 
lations of society, are perpetually at work, modi- 
fying character for good and for ill. But it is 
not the less true, that much will lie in the power 
of individuals to act beneficially on those around. 
Many urge that it is enough, if each perform the 
part into which accident has thrown him, and 
discharge to the best of his abilities, the duties of 
his station, and the ordinary demands of social 
life. This doubtless, is a high and useful object, 
but the pure-hearted and lofty-minded — those 
who best fulfil the claims of society, will likewise 
best attend to ulterior duties. Indeed, the pro- 
priety, as well as the necessity of attention to 
general interests, is recognized by all. After the 
performance of our private duties, the highest 
wisdom and purest philanthropy, require the pro- 
motion of the well-being of the community in 
which we dwell, as well as of society at large. 
The great social improvements to which we owe 
the advantages of modern life, were the work of 
individuals, and often only developed and made 
known, after much personal risk. This was more 
peculiarly the case with regard to moral and po- 
litical truth, the propagation of which, has too 
often been productive of danger and death to the 
discoverers. Every one, however, may benefit 
his fellows, and this to an extent so much the 
greater, as he is virtuous and enlightened himself. 



508 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

Nothing absolves us from the obligation, short of 
the impossibility of success. We are to weigh 
well before we decide ; things which appear the 
former to the indolent and ignorant, are often 
abundantly otherwise to the enlightened and 
energetic. That indomitable firmness of purpose 
which is conquered by no difficulties, and which 
only pauses in the pursuit of its object, when in- 
superable obstacles interpose, laughs ordinary 
hindrances to scorn, and performs achievements 
which to other natures seem impracticable. In- 
stances in illustration, are abundantly numerous 
in the history of the human mind; not only when 
good, but evil objects were the main-springs of 
conduct. And shall virtue and knowledge then, 
be daunted in the career of good, when vice and 
iniquity hold on unchecked? Let us consider 
the impediments all but invincible, which have 
been subdued by the lust of fame, wealth, or 
power, and blush to be outstripped by anything 
so inferior. In truth, not knowledge only, nor 
even good feeling, is sufficient for the mighty task; 
it is necessary to foster those habits of iron energy 
and practised determination, which so accustom 
us to the contemplation of difficulties, that we can 
bring ourselves to relinquish no useful attempt, 
until every means of realizing it has been tried 
in vain. 

It has been observed, that perhaps no man so far 
outstrips his cotemporaries,as no where to meet with 
countenance and support. This is true to a con- 
siderable extent, for the laws by which the acqui- 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 509 

sition of knowledge is regulated, demonstrate that 
it must be in a great measure transmitted. Ne- 
vertheless, it is certain that some have so far pre- 
ceded their fellows, as to become subject to 
persecution, obloquy, loss of fortune and of life. 
The individual may endure these transitory evils, 
but the multitude are benefitted. A man may 
be maligned, and his means of existence perilled, 
yet numbers are made happy by his conduct, 
when the oppressor and his oppression have 
passed away. Death, imprisonment, exile, and de- 
famation, are fleeting evils ; they cannot annihilate 
the consciousness of having done good, either in 
this life or in the next, or prevent the accruing 
satisfaction from accompanying us to the grave. 
Truth, sooner or later, shines brightly forth, and 
it will be seen who were the upholders of the best 
interests of their species, and who were otherwise. 
Yet in the midst of his triumph, the enlightened 
and virtuous man is not without compassion to- 
wards his persecutors: he knows that they are 
the victims of evil training, malignant passions, 
and debasing ignorance ; while he derives from 
the spectacle of their conduct, a still higher in- 
centive to the diffusion of the knowledge by which 
mankind are made wise and happy, and to the 
removal of the ignorance, to which are owing the 
the misery, sin, and wickedness, that afflict the 
world. Such, then, is the incumbency under 
which every right-minded individual labours, with 
regard to the promulgation of truth, but more 
particularly moral truth. All the happiness, vir- 



510 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

tue, and excellence, which we possess, are owing 
to the efforts of those who are now no more ; 
while the well-being that may accrue to posterity, 
must repose on these efforts of the past, combined 
with those of the existing races of mankind. No 
good act, no true thought, or virtuous feeling that 
is manifested to others, is ever lost; but borne 
on in the hearts and souls of mankind, flourishes 
and perpetuates itself for ever, in an unceasing 
and blessed succession of just deeds and pure af- 
fections. 

Let us sympathize with all God's creatures, 
but more especially with our own kind — with the 
oppressed, the ignorant, the superstitious, the vi- 
cious, and the unhappy. The vicious and igno- 
rant are worthy of our regard, not indeed, be- 
cause they are vicious or ignorant, but because 
they are unfortunate. For what greater misfor- 
tune can befal, than to be afflicted with degrading 
qualities ? It is by many considered an evil, when 
loss of property, reputation, or life, assails us; 
but narrow-mindedness and vice are properties, 
as to whose baleful nature, no second opinion can 
be held. The one is but an alteration in the exter- 
nal and fugitive relations of our being — the other, 
the absence or depravation of our most glorious 
attributes. Even death, the bug-bear of humanity, 
in itself can be no evil ; it is the unavoidable 
passport to futurity — but iniquity, of what can it 
be productive, save of further misery and sin ? 
Moral diseases might doubtless, be removed ; 
but who is to carry the proper measures into 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 511 

effect ; who is to feel compassion for the spurned-at 
outcast ? The ignorance, the degradation, and the 
desolating habits into which so many are plunged, 
are truly deplorable. The inconceivable want 
of information, the horrid crimes, the brutality, 
and the absence of feeling so often displayed, are 
enough to fill the heart with sorrow and woe, and 
loudly call for that energetic sympathy which ex- 
pends itself in devising and carrying into effect, 
active measures of prevention and relief. 

If the ignorant and vicious claim our sympathy, 
it is obviously demanded by the wise and good. 
When we think of the innumerable privations, 
the sufferings, and the struggles, which have been 
undergone in conformity with the dictates of 
principle, it serves to inspire us with the deepest 
regard. Nor is there anything so well calculated 
to rouse our best and purest impulses, as the 
spectacle of such efforts, of which the very recital 
even, affects us with transports of satisfaction and 
joy. Every virtuous sacrifice is sure to realize a 
glorious reward; some are animated by it at the 
time, while history records the example, and holds 
out the incitement to after ages. It is impossible 
to estimate the collective good which has thus 
been wrought, or adequately to weigh the 
advantages which flow from a single instance 
of successful opposition to tyranny, superstition, 
and the upholders of vice and ignorance at large. 
Let the patriot, the philosopher, and the philan- 
thropist, feel the intimate assurance, whatever 
persecution, risk, or temporary ignominy, they 



512 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

may be called upon to undergo, that their exam- 
ple is never lost, but goes on a precious heritage 
to posterity, mingling and commingling with the 
results of other superior agencies, until it involves 
the human race in its effects. The efforts of the 
wise and good can never die; the memory of 
warlike deeds may be lost, or handed down only 
to be execrated, but those of the lover of peace 
and wisdom, prolong their blessed tendencies for 
ever. Fame is not the aim of the good man, but 
virtue ; and having realized this, his object is ful- 
filled. The preservation of our names is nothing ; 
superior conduct will be most apt to ensure it, 
but whether or not, is of little moment. The 
consciousness of having done good in secret, 
yields delight ; but the perpetuation of a name, 
is every way an inferior object of ambition. The 
sympathy of the enlightened and the good, whether 
here or hereafter, is the dearest meed of excel- 
lence, and so surely as it exists, shall it obtain 
this reward. 

Let us do good to the utmost of our power, for 
the interest of one is that of all. In truth, the 
performance of our duties to ourselves, secures it 
to others; for it is the very nature of rational 
self-interest, to desire nothing that is hurtful. 
The doctrine is compassed within small bounds ; 
let us not do anything to others, that we would 
not have done to ourselves. But much comes 
with the range of duty besides acts ; these, indeed, 
are the evidence, but not the essence of morality. 
We must know our duty, and we must love to 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 513 

perform it : we must moreover, be actuated by 
those kind and gentle feelings, and those good 
affections, whose very existence affords a proof 
of our superior and immortal nature. It is ne- 
cessary to be disinterested, to love virtue for itself, 
and not merely for the sake of the outward ad- 
vantages that may accrue from it. In other 
words, we must foster those inward emotions and 
feelings, to gratify which, is among the highest 
objects of virtue. The diffusion of moral know- 
ledge and virtuous sentiments greatly enhances 
the beneficent result. Our individual happiness 
is thus reflected on others, while that of others 
increases our own. It is indeed, impossible for 
the spectacle of the general felicity to be unat- 
tended with satisfaction to the beholder. When 
the time works round in which moral and reli- 
gious truth shall universally abound ; when vice 
and ignorance, error and superstition, shall be 
no more, our happiness will be singularly aug- 
mented ; human relations will be rational, just, and 
kind, and while the real ends of our being shall 
be better understood, there will be a greater de- 
gree of submission to Providence, and a superior 
preparation for the duties of our earthly, as well 
as for those of our everlasting existence. At pre- 
sent, there is a generally prevailing ignorance as 
to many of the more important objects of life ; a 
miscalculation as to the essentials of happiness 
as well as of the means of promoting it, and lastly, 
too great a disregard for the well-being of others. 
Did mankind sufficiently perceive that their 

K K 



514 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

highest and most enduring felicity was vested in 
kind and gentle affections, in energetic and use- 
fully directed mental efforts, and in virtuous con- 
duct, we should no longer perceive those bitter 
rivalries, that grasping after wealth and power, 
and that desire for exclusive appropriation, which 
are the bane of social life. 

3. I now arrive at the third great class of our 
duties, or those which regard the Deity. It is 
indeed, true, that these include the whole ; but it 
is equally so, that some have a more immediate 
reference to the great Author of our being, than 
others, and consequently, call for separate and 
careful consideration. Let us cultivate a close 
acquaintance with all God's mighty works, but 
ever in relation to Him. Even those of men's 
hands, are to be viewed in the same spirit ; for 
are not human talent and ingenuity derived from 
the one and only source ? The instincts and 
powers of the inferior animals, with all the won- 
derful variety of creation, while they are the in- 
dication and the evidence of boundless wisdom 
and power, afford endless scope for expatiation 
and delight. As our capacities are strength- 
ened and perfected during the ceaseless lapse of 
eternity, so it is not too much to anticipate, that 
we shall be permitted a perpetually increasing in- 
sight into the glories of that Providence, which 
then, as now, it will be our most exalted happi- 
ness to admire. The manifestations of the Deity 
are co-extensive with creation itself. There is 
no solitude — no wilderness — no ocean depths or 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 5] 5 

desert recess, which does not exhibit boundless 
tokens of wisdom and power ; while in the wide 
range of animated being, the feeling heart will 
discover incessant subject for consolation and joy. 
What a blessed reflection it is, that there is no 
creature, however low and unimportant, from the 
fragile insect that flits in the noontide beam, to 
man himself, exalted and refined by reason and 
feeling, or degraded by ignorance and vice, that 
is not under the sedulous care of unceasing wis- 
dom and love ? The Mighty Ruler has not 
provided for one portion of his works to the exclu- 
sion of the rest — all are the objects of his unre- 
mitting attention. There can be no favouritism, 
no neglect; all are cared for, all are loved; while 
the well-being of each is made subordinate to its 
conformity to those unalterable and perfect laws, 
whkh have been laid down for all living things. 
Man, indeed, has received reason and feeling to 
guide him in the detection and observation of 
these laws, which, by a wonderful provision, are 
made the instruments of his progressive improve- 
ment. How could we indeed, suppose for an 
instant, that the all- wise God could prejudice by 
neglect, or exclusively favour any portion of his 
creatures ; surely, such a procedure would be un- 
worthy of his boundless love — his beneficent and 
fatherly care — his unerring wisdom? No, all 
are cherished — all are minded — none are forgot- 
ten; nor does the infinite multiplicity of his Pro- 
vidence cause aught to be neglected, even to the 
minutest fragment, or the faintest operation of his 
precious works. 



516 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

Let us dwell on the omnipresence of the Deity. 
Oh, glorious and transcendent reality, that it is 
impossible for us — for any portion of his crea- 
tures, to cease for one moment, to exist in his 
presence. How great the comfort — how blessed 
the conviction of this mighty truth? Living or 
dying — miserable, destitute, or forlorn, still the all- 
seeing, all-pervading eye is upon us, looking into 
our souls, and surveying us with ineffable com- 
passion, wisdom, and love. Oh, let us but fitly 
cherish this persuasion in our hearts, and misery, 
sorrow, and suffering, must for ever cease — for 
who could be permanently unhappy with the inti- 
mate belief that he was under the unswerving 
love and inspection of a being of infinite benevo- 
lence and power? We have reason to rejoice, 
even when a sincere and devoted friend provides 
for our welfare — but where is the friend like 
God ; who is to be compared to him ? His vision 
penetrates through the darkness of night, and 
visits the captive in his cell: it dwells by the 
couch of the desolate and forsaken, as with all 
who, however destitute of human aid, can never 
cease to enjoy His. Let the wretched and mise- 
rable then, hold up their fainting hearts — there 
is one who will never forsake them, who cannot 
cease to provide for them, for he sees their wants 
and compassionates their distress. When erring 
humanity inflicts cureless evil — cureless at least 
as regards this world, let the afflicted impress it 
upon their inmost souls, that there is another and 
a better dwelling, where they come under the 
immediate care of unceasing goodness and love, 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 517 

and where merciless oppression shall reign no 
more. For earthly misery must find prompt re- 
lief, when the mortal frame, with mortal cares, 
are thrown off together. Again, let us think of 
that pervading vision which pierces through the 
thickest disguise that human perversity weaves 
to snare its victims. Let each and all strive to 
maintain in their souls the sleepless conviction 
that every word, thought, and feeling, are known 
to One, who sees through all things; let them 
cherish it, and live and die in conformity with it. 
The good and the wise need not pause in their 
career, when they reflect that wisdom and good- 
ness Supreme, appreciate their conduct, and 
approve of it. A virtuous man will ever be soli- 
citous to possess the suffrage of his fellows ; but 
whether he is fully able to earn it or not, he may 
feel assured that there is One whose approbation 
must certainly be conciliated, by the practice of 
what is just and true. How expanding then, how 
exalted the conception, that God is the all in 
all — that he is everywhere, and that he is eter- 
nally present, and cognizant of all things ? What 
topic can be urged more favourable to the inte- 
rests of religion and morality — what so well cal- 
culated to raise our conceptions as to the infinite 
majesty, wisdom, and power of the Almighty? 
Let us strive then — let us try to realize a persua- 
sion that tends to elevate man to the highest ex- 
cellence of which his nature is capable, and that 
furnishes so exhaustless a source of consolation 
arid joy. To be ever animated by the belief that 
we are in the presence of infinite wisdom and 



518 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

power, is one of all others the most alien to vice 
and iniquity, as well as most favourable to those 
superior moral and intellectual energies, that 
should inspire a being whose destination is eter- 
nity. It ought to be felt when we rise in the 
morning, and when we lie down at night — in 
solitude as in society — during the hours of labour 
as in those of rest — in sickness as in health — in 
earliest youth as in advanced age: in fine, the 
pervading conviction, that we are in the never- 
ceasing presence of the great Father and Pre- 
server of life, should inspire us from the first dawn 
of reason, to the last verge of earthly existence. 

Let us have frequent communion with God — 
let us reflect on his goodness to us and to all, 
his wisdom, and his boundless power. Let us 
adore him — let us praise him with praise that 
flows from the heart, and let us be thankful for 
the happiness which we enjoy, and that which is 
in store. We cannot indeed, commune with the 
Deity as we would with mortal man — nor can 
we expect that he will immediately reply to our 
supplications and our praise, but we have ever 
before us the inspiring spectacle of his works, and 
the blessed manifestations of his ways. These 
are addressed to us and to all men, and are they 
not enough to actuate us with fervent, upspring- 
ing devotion, gushing from the very depths of 
the soul? Let us utter his praise in no set for- 
mularies of words, but clothed in the ready 
phrase of loving and devoted hearts. We should 
feel as we should think for ourselves; and those 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 519 

who adore God within, will be at no loss for 
expressions wherewith fitly to declare their love. 
But this is a faculty which requires cultivation, 
and many a willing heart is not at first fully able 
to express all it feels. Nevertheless, each will 
do what he can, and he will be aided by the pre- 
cious records of the feelings of his fellow-men, 
towards the Omnipotent Father of all. Even 
when we have acquired the faculty of addressing 
him for ourselves, the prayers and the praise of 
the wise and the good, are pleasant and profitable 
to peruse and to hear. The orisons of a grateful 
heart are ever acceptable; but of what avail are 
those arid expressions, which do not awake the 
feelings lying latent in the soul? No, our ad- 
dresses to the ineffable Parent should embark our 
warmest, our most devoted affections— for who is 
so worthy of them, as the one great and almighty 
Upholder of created things — the equal Origi- 
nator of light and life, as of everything that is 
dear, or excellent, or true ? We should habituate 
ourselves to daily prayer; morning and eve, the 
accents of devotion and love should dwell on our 
lips, and gush from our hearts. We should try 
to feel our entire dependence on the one and 
only source of all that we enjoy; at whose fiat 
we come into existence, and by whose boundless 
power we are enabled to maintain it. A grate- 
ful heart will find much to praise, much to be 
thankful for: even in the worst of situations, 
there will be scope for gratitude. How much 
desolation and distress are allayed and lessened, 



520 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

by fervent appeals to God, the afflicted alone 
can say. We daily witness individuals to all 
outward seeming plunged in the utterness of 
destitution, who are yet resigned and tranquil, 
and all from their immoveable faith in the justice, 
the goodness, and the unlimited wisdom of God. 
For must He not be wise, and just, and merciful; 
and must not the equal Dispenser of all good, 
redeem human misery, if not on earth, at least 
in another world? Oh, if men could only know 
the consolation and the limitless joy, which arise 
from an unceasing trust under adverse circum- 
stances, in the ultimate providence of the Deity, 
they would turn to him with a confidence that 
nothing could lessen or destroy. A habit of 
prayer and praise should be generated in earli- 
est infancy, so that the heart, with each revolving 
year, would grow stronger and stronger in the 
act, better disposed, and better able to perform it. 
Thus, the great Author of existence being ever 
appealed to, and the thoughts and feelings ever 
directed towards him, it would become our hap- 
piness in life, and our consolation in the hour of 
death. We should try to feel that he must needs 
do what is best, and that both here and hereafter, 
his divine ordinations must ever be right. The 
unsullied purity of childhood lays it down as the 
fittest period for laying the basis of an implicit 
reliance on our Maker; it is then, that the first 
fresh feelings of the heart, as awakened to earthly 
parents, may be directed towards God, and the 
untainted innocence of early youth, made the 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 521 

vehicle of that precious devotion which is to reign 
throughout eternity. Surely, the glowing emo- 
tions thus directed, of this happy time, afford a 
spectacle worthy of inspiring us with an un- 
bounded delight, only perhaps to be surpassed by 
that which we experience when man has cast off 
fierce emotions and erring ways, and turns with 
a contrite and willing heart to the only source of 
peace and joy. Devotion to the Deity should 
witness our utmost efforts to divest ourselves of 
every sinful thought, of all vain passions and ill- 
directed desires. We should strive in utter 
annihilation of self, to reflect on our perfect de- 
pendence on him, and on our enjoyment of the 
countless blessings that flow, not from our deserts, 
but his beneficence. We should task our intel- 
lects to discern the actual relations which we 
maintain towards him — our littleness, and his 
greatness — our feebleness, and his might — our 
helplessness, and his maintaining power. The 
heart must indeed be awakened, but so must the 
understanding, that our devotion may not run 
into error or fanaticism, or imagine anything that 
could be unworthy of him. Let us never forget 
that we must love God with intelligence and 
purity of heart ; with probity, good faith, and the 
unremitting exercise of all the excellencies of our 
nature. He knows what is best, and will do it. 
Let us ascertain his providence and submit. It 
is his part to order and direct — ours, to conform 
and to praise. 

It behoves us to study the providence of the 



522 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

Deity, and to make conformity to it our rule. 
Were men to do so, the miserable anomalies that 
subsist in the moral world, would for ever disap- 
pear. We observe one universal principle obtain- 
ing throughout creation, which is so much the 
more perfect, the more we are able to see into it. 
Could we but witness the entire, our love and admi- 
ration would proportionally increase. The blem- 
ishes which seem to our imperfect vision to ob- 
scure it, would vanish into nothing contrasted 
with the majesty of the mighty whole. But the 
general solution already given, holds good in every 
case — that no imperfections are risked, unless to 
obviate a greater evil, and to secure a vast pre- 
ponderance of good. The power of option and 
selection has been placed in our hands, which 
could not be done without leaving a possibility of 
incurring error. Now, it should be the unceasing 
effort of all who are desirous of promoting the 
happiness of their species, to demonstrate the or- 
der of Providence, to inculcate submission to it, 
and to point out the endless blessings that flow 
from it. The will of the Deity is manifested con- 
tinually, now, and yesterday, and for ever ; vary- 
ing neither with times nor with seasons, but at 
once immutable and universal. For it is framed 
upon all the particulars that can possibly occur, 
from the eternity which has preceded us, to that 
which lies before. If any better order had been 
possible, it must necessarily, in conformity with 
the dictates of Supreme goodness and boundless 
power, have taken place. For it flows from God, 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 523 

and, consequently, is at once perfect and unal- 
terable. Let our prayer then, to the Deity, be 
not to modify his precious providence to suit our 
limited views ; let our desire be to obey, rather 
than to alter — to submit, rather than to oppose. 
Now, we should try to comprehend this provi- 
dence ; to weigh it in our souls, and to imbue 
ourselves with its excellence. Much we shall 
never know — more, we cannot know, yet we shall 
at least be able to lift a corner of the mighty veil, 
and to receive grounds the deepest and most in- 
effable, for unlimited trust, consolation, and joy. 
It is not a blind, undiscerning acquiescence that 
is demanded of us, but one that is enlightened 
and intelligent, and which flows not less from the 
heart than the understanding. If we would feel 
the comfort, we must seek to deserve it — we can- 
not have it, we cannot earn the reward without 
labour, toil, and pains. Is not the gracious pro- 
vidence of the Deity deserving of our most at- 
tentive consideration : shall other knowledge be 
deemed worthy of acquirement, and this, the best 
and highest, since it affords the most perfect 
ground of duty, and the most certain basis of 
happiness, be disregarded? It is, indeed, de- 
serving of our deepest study, for months, and days, 
and years ; during every interval that the cares 
and struggles of life permit, until we have ar- 
rived at firm and imperturbable attainments — at- 
tainments that will guide and comfort us through 
life, and support us in the hour of death. Cer- 
tain it is, that wherever we turn, whatever de- 



524 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

partment of nature we scan, the intelligent and 
grateful heart will find innumerable tokens of a 
universal and perfect provision embracing all 
things, at once incapable of diminution or amend- 
ment. Thus, the feeling and reflecting of every 
class, are cheered by the never-ceasing evidence 
of Divine wisdom and love. The dweller on the 
deep, the way-faring man — in fine, the student 
and observer in every imaginable line, find the 
thickly strewn proofs of sleepless regard and limit- 
less power. How unspeakable the satisfaction, as 
we wend our way through the tortuous paths of 
life, to observe and to abide by the regulations of 
Providence — to love them in our hearts, and to 
cherish them in our souls? Crosses and troubles 
may assail us, and we may feel their sting, but 
we have that within our breasts which blunts their 
acrimony, and assures us of eventual comfort and 
repose. We know — we feel, that' God is all-per- 
fect and all-wise — that he has our final happiness 
in view, and that the trials and the vexations of 
life, are but as filmy specks compared with the 
good which is in store for us, and which we trust 
and believe that we shall enjoy, through the end- 
lessly recurring periods of eternity. Let us not 
seek then, to alter the order of Providence — let 
us only strive to know it, and to make it the rule 
and the guide of our lives. We have been granted 
sufficient scope for every useful, every beneficial 
purpose, an overflowing supply of everything that 
is calculated to make us happy and wise. Let 
us then, rivet the laws to which we have been sub- 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 525 

jected, in our very souls ; let us abide by them in 
sickness and in health, prosperity and adversity, 
in fine, in all the varying relations of life, and 
they will not forsake us in the hour of need. We 
shall thus best enable ourselves to discharge our 
duties, as we owe them to our fellow- creatures, 
and to ourselves, as well as prepare for our transi- 
tion to another form of existence. 

We are under the strongest of all obligations, 
to fulfil our duties to the Deity. Unless we do 
this, though we may admit it passively, we live 
without a sufficient practical acknowledgment of 
his existence. Few are so hardy as directly to 
deny the latter, but how many do so by their con- 
duct indirectly; by the absence of charity and 
love towards their fellows ; by the omission of 
good acts and the commission of ill ; and by the 
neglect of those daily sacrifices of the heart which 
are indispensable to real religion ? We must re- 
cognise God's attributes and mighty power, as 
well as his innumerable relations to all created 
things. We must adore him in our hearts, and 
praise him in our souls — not blindly or passively, 
but with intelligence and love. For the love of 
God, and the performance of his will, are the very 
religion of the heart — the religion of the virtuous 
and moral man. Let us then cherish unbounded 
reverence towards him — let us refer all things 
trustfully to him, as regards this life, and with 
hope and confidence as respects the next. God 
is good — he is wise — let us reflect then, on his 
providence, his wisdom, and his goodness. If we 



526 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

act as rational beings, and carefully imbue our 
minds with the endless instances of his beneficence 
to us and to all ; if we keep alive within us the 
flame of ardent devotion, yet tempered by the 
sense of our infinite inferiority, and the boundless 
respect and submission which we are to maintain, 
we may then venture to approach him with the 
offerings of our hearts. The other relations of 
man are finite, but these are infinite — others are 
temporal, but these are eternal. Let us cherish a 
strong sense of accountability towards God. He 
has endowed us with certain moral and intellec- 
tual capabilities, and we should cultivate these, 
his gifts, to the utmost. If we do not, we shall 
sooner or later be overtaken by the retributive 
justice of Nature — in other words, by the neces- 
sary results accruing from the insufficient de- 
velopment of our latent powers. And this leads 
to the question of education and of a provision 
for the moral culture of the community, superior 
to any that now exists. To a superficial observer 
it might seem hard to make an innocent child 
suffer from the neglect of parents and teachers — 
or a whole people, from the ill-regulated or in- 
sufficient measures of government ; but what is 
to be done? An almost boundless capacity has 
been imparted to us, and if we will not avail our- 
selves of it, can we hope to evade the results ? 
The evils which accrue from bad or defective 
training — vice, ignorance, error, and strife, are 
so many beacons to warn us into the adoption of 
a better path. These unhappy results must ever 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 527 

flow from similar causes, and cannot be obviated 
unless by avoiding them. Misery and crime arise 
from moral and intellectual ignorance, and must 
be corrected by superior training. The institu- 
tions of society almost inevitably constrain inferior 
minds into the adoption of a multitude of habits, 
adverse not only to correct and high-toned 
morality, but to its essence — the adoration of 
God. Men will never generally worship the 
Supreme Being with fervour and truth, until an 
utter change in the present exclusive mode of edu- 
cation shall take place. The few who receive the 
best form of instruction, are insufficiently taught ; 
the remainder who are comparatively neglected, 
are nevertheless exposed to cruel and sanguinary 
punishments for the commission of acts, which 
moral causation amply demonstrates, must neces- 
sarily follow the destitution and degradation 
in which they have been left. This is an inver- 
sion both of reason and morality ; let all be in- 
structed to the utmost, as regards essentials, and 
we shall then witness a diminution of crime and 
wretchedness, commensurate with the decline of 
ignorance and error, and the upspringing of 
knowledge and elevated sentiments. Cruel and 
sanguinary wars, and miserable persecutions, 
have been carried on by nations and sects in the 
name of religion; as if the pure and holy spirit 
which animates it, and without which it cannot 
exist, ever dictated similar conduct. Fanati- 
cism, ignorance, error, and bloodthirstiness, have 
no claim to the appellation of religion, than which 



528 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

nothing is more just, more tolerant, or more for- 
giving. True religion — the un waning love of 
God, and the practice of his will, is the life of the 
soul ; without it, indeed, we may have the exte- 
rior of men, hut must want the singleness, the 
purity, and the elevation of character, which re- 
ligion alone can yield. Religion involves the dis- 
charge of all our duties, though it he more 
peculiarly the expression of our boundless love, 
our adoration, and our gratitude, towards the Al- 
mighty Author of Good; still, how can this take 
place without that preparation for the task, which 
is only to be ensured by the rigid performance of 
everything that moral and intellectual energy, 
self-respect, honour, justice, fortitude, and unceas- 
ing integrity, demand of man? Oh, that all 
could be brought to acknowledge that the un- 
feigned love of God and man, and the offerings of 
a pure, an upright, and a grateful heart, are con- 
ditions which religion requires at our hands, and 
without which, it cannot exist on earth. So, 
devotion to the Deity and brotherly love, would 
go hand in hand, and man would at length, be 
included within the bonds of an everlasting peace. 
Our duties thus branch into three great heads 
—those which we owe to ourselves, our fellows, 
and the Deity. Their importance, in one sense, 
is commensurate, but I would dwell more parti- 
cularly on the first, because we are peculiarly re- 
commended to our own care, and because without 
self-respect, moral dignity, fortitude, temperance, 
and energy, we cannot fulfil our duties to the 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 529 

Deity, or to others. We must therefore, cherish 
the moral man within, as this is the source of our 
greatest happiness, and the contrary the origin of 
our greatest misery. For if we are prejudiced, 
or ignorant, or infected with bad passions, how is 
it possible to love and assist our brethren, or to 
tender homage to the Deity? Our active rela- 
tions with our fellows are occasionally interrupted ; 
but those which we hold with ourselves, are unceas- 
ing. Let us then, seek knowledge, and all ex- 
cellence, as well as sedulously cultivate those 
admirable qualities, upon which moral superiority 
and happiness depend. Let us love virtue for its 
own sake, and carefully abstain from every gra- 
tification that would tend to lessen its sanction. 
We are not called upon to submit to evil when 
we can remove it, but only to bear up against it, 
when we cannot. External mischief may assail 
us, but what is to destroy the constancy, or take 
away the knowledge of the high-minded and intel- 
lectual man ? The kingdom of the breast is our 
own, but we are unable to regulate the currency 
of outward events. Even in those cases in which 
we can employ no means to shield ourselves from 
injury, we have still the resource of elevated 
principle, and the resort of the citadel within, 
which neither bolts, nor bars, nor human might, 
can force. We are not required to be rich, or 
fortunate, or powerful — but just, rational, tempe- 
rate, and kind. If men would but bring it home 
to their souls, that the best of all possessions might 
be made immutably their own, and that neither 

L L 



530 ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 

tyranny, injustice, sickness, nor death itself, could 
canker or destroy them, they would seek these 
possessions with an avidity unhappily too rare. 
I do not gainsay the just uses of wealth and power, 
since they are great and obvious, but the abuse ; 
I would only insist on the supremacy of moral 
and intellectual excellence. The adulation be- 
stowed on the former, and the neglect, if not con- 
tempt, enmity, and persecution, which so fre- 
quently beset the latter, sufficiently point out the 
ignorance and apathy which prevail on the subject 
of the most important concerns of existence. Our 
necessities, however, are great, and compel an 
attention, which in limited minds — limited as 
to information and moral training, becomes ex- 
clusive. This, however, demonstrates afresh the 
insufficiency of existing education, and the in- 
ferior care that is taken to ameliorate the con- 
dition of our race. 

The proper regulation of the feelings, affections, 
and desires, is among the most important parti- 
culars that conduct involves ; for if we entertain 
no feelings which we ought to subdue, and wish 
for nothing for which we ought not to wish, we 
shall take the very means best calculated to en- 
sure our happiness. Let us then, most earnestly 
desire those things, which may not only with the 
greatest certainty be procured, but of which the 
possession is the most valuable — just and well-di- 
rected affections, knowledge, energy, fortitude, 
moderation, and self-control. These are ends; 
riches and power are but means — means too, that 



ON THE REGULATION OF THE AFFECTIONS. 531 

are principally directed to an increased supply 
of the gratifications of sense. A wise man may 
indeed, desire riches and power as instruments ; 
but he will not seek them as ends, much less as 
the agents of extravagance and debauchery. It 
has been so ordered, that the means which con- 
duce to excellence, are in themselves, calculated 
to promote it ; while those which minister to vice, 
are further productive of the latter. It becomes 
us then, to seek with our most powerful energies 
the possessions that are eternal, and of which the 
efficacy can never fade or decay. Let us indeed, 
pursue the ordinary business of life, as men who 
have a higher aim, temperately and industriously, 
but with a sufficient reserve for the wants of our 
everlasting nature. Let us acquire if we can, by 
rational and steady industry, the requisites for 
ministering to our just wants and those of others, 
yet so as to meet the demands of the soul. The 
former are necessary to secure our happiness, and 
that of those who are dear to us, but not alone 
necessary, for mental and moral, is even more 
appalling than physical destitution. Let us then, 
instil into all from earliest infancy, those precious 
principles that are so deserving of our unceasing 
attention — let us elevate the soul to the contem- 
plation and the practice of virtue; so shall we 
raise up men who will confer honour on our na- 
ture, and destroy for ever, the vain illusion, that 
some only, are capable of that excellence, which 
is the distinctive prerogative and most glorious 
attribute of humanity. 



532 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

ON THE BEST MEANS OF CULTIVATING THE FEEL- 
INGS AND AFFECTIONS, AS WELL AS OF PERFECT- 
ING THE MORAL POWERS. 



I. It has been urged again and again, that spe- 
cific means must be had recourse to, for develop- 
ing the feelings and moral powers; it is not 
enough to trust to the unassisted provisions of 
nature ; they must be carefully turned in given 
directions. Our capabilities are enormous, but 
their evolution is left in a great measure, to hu- 
man care. Even the efforts made with this in- 
tent, are productive of advantages that could not 
otherwise be secured. To ensure the develop- 
ment of the heart, the feelings must be duly cul- 
tivated; for it has been shewn, that our moral 
judgments are compounded of intellectual con- 
clusions united with certain feelings. Now, these 
could not be formed, nor could we decide in the 
various conjunctures of life, without mental cul- 
ture. The more perfect and diversified this is, so 
much the more so, everything else alike, will our 
moral judgments become. Adults improve by 
reflection, action, intercourse with the world, oral 
instruction, and the perusal of superior works; 
but the foundation must be laid in childhood and 
youth, by means of precept, example, and judi- 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 533 

cious training. In both cases, the formation and 
observance of practical good habits, are impera- 
tively requisite. It is not less indispensable in 
order to secure correct moral judgments, that the 
heart and feelings should be assiduously culti- 
vated. The man with little feeling is apt to 
prove immoral, or at least, limited and restricted 
as to his conceptions of duty ; the heart is neces- 
sary to provide an impetus, and to yield scope to 
the intellect, as well as to enforce and confirm 
the dictates of both. Of how many facts in the 
wide range of moral science, is the apathetic man 
wholly ignorant, or dimly conscious? The most 
sublime truths are pressed upon his attention in 
vain; he is not perhaps, so much unwilling, as 
unable to perceive them. He will reason coldly 
but immoveably, against doctrines, the certainty 
of which, a little feeling would instantly render 
manifest. His heart is defective, but not his 
head; and unless the former can be roused, it 
will be impossible to influence the latter. Hence, 
the error of that morality which appeals only to 
the understanding, and on the other hand, the 
success and the permanence even of erroneous 
doctrines, when allied with the feelings and 
grafted on the heart. Let us cultivate the affec- 
tions and moral powers from the beginning ; let 
us imbue the infant mind with the vital principles 
of morality, and let us lay the foundation of the 
love of virtue, not by force or constraint, but by 
means of the caresses, the often renewed instruc- 
tion, and the varied illustration, which cultivated 



534 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 

hearts so well know how to employ. Above all, 
let evil example be averted, and that which is 
good, encouraged ; and so soon as it is practicable, 
let us engage the child secretly and unostenta- 
tiously, in deeds of charity, kindness, and love. 
Let us shew him that every living thing is worthy 
of his care; but above all, his fellow-creatures; 
and first among them, his parents, his relatives, 
and all those into whose immediate contact he 
may come. Teach him to be grateful to those 
who are instrumental in rescuing him from the 
contamination of ignorance, error, and crime, and 
in planting the seeds of knowledge and virtue in 
his soul: but especially, imbue his heart with 
boundless gratitude to the Author of Good — from 
whom all gifts come, and to whom, we can alone 
owe the possession of anything that we enjoy. 
Impress love and devotion towards the Deity 
early and late, by every fitting and gentle means ; 
and whenever the heart is softened, hasten to 
embrace the precious opportunity for nurturing 
that boundless submission towards the Divine 
will, which should never languish or die. Teach 
the child to express his thanks and his acknow- 
ledgments in daily prayer, so that the habit thus 
early created, may not experience decay. There 
are a thousand ways of developing the feelings, 
affections, and moral judgments, which intelligent 
minds and feeling hearts will be ready to devise 
— ways, by means of which, inward emotions of 
joy and delight may be so closely allied with the 
sense of duty, as to enable it to overcome all the 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 535 

trials, temptations, and sufferings of life. The 
selfishness so natural in early infancy, must not 
be rudely interfered with; it is a provision for 
that helpless period, and a means, when properly 
directed, of leading the soul to disinterested ex- 
cellence. Attention should be gradually worn 
off from matters of sense, and directed to those of 
feeling and intellect, until that justly -laboured 
empire between the two is established, which 
should subsist in every well-regulated mind. 

II. Not the offspring of the rich alone, should 
thus be trained, but children of every class. The 
everlasting interests of all should be attended to 
with a firm, yet gentle hand; eradicating bad 
passions, and implanting good — in fine, employing 
every means that earthly prudence and affection 
can dictate, to favour the production of a pure 
and unimpeachable morality. How many admi- 
rable treatises are extant, with the contents of 
which, so far as a judicious selection would ex- 
tend, children might be made conversant? Mo- 
rality should be instilled, not with a dry and arid 
voice, but with the sweet and gentle tones that 
issue from the heart, and of which, the impression 
is not to be eradicated. Oh, let every child then, 
whether of rich or poor, be impressed with the 
beauty and the advantages of truth from earliest 
infancy, and suffer not a single human being to 
remain ignorant, much less vicious and immoral, 
from the absence of that precious knowledge, 
which it would be so easy to communicate to all. 
It is impossible for vice, error, or ignorance, to 



536 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 

disappear, if means are not made use of. If we 
admit that knowledge is desirable, are we justified 
in the avoidable delay of a single moment, in the 
promotion of anything that tends to advance it? 
If moral education be good for one, it is so for all ; 
and if this be true, in the name of justice and 
mercy — in the name of suffering humanity, let it 
extend to all. 

II. The influence of public opinion with regard 
to the improvement of society, is all-power- 
ful. If it be elevated and enlightened, the com- 
munity is sure to prosper ; if, on the contrary, it 
prove vicious and corrupt, the results will corres- 
pond. Hence, one of the surest engines for 
working good, is an elevated public opinion. The 
latter is perpetuated in an erroneous form, by 
faulty institutions, imperfect training, and checks 
on the diffusion of knowledge. Intelligent and 
moral-minded men, are called on to do all that 
their individual influence will permit, to purify 
and direct it, as it is to the exertions of such, that 
the enlightenment which pervades the world is 
mainly owing. The press should be again and 
again appealed to ; and writings in favour of uni- 
versal education, arrangements for bettering the 
condition of the community, and for extending to 
all the blessings. of superior political institutions, 
ought to be energetically diffused. These, in pro- 
cess of time, would serve to create a high-toned 
public feeling, fully sufficient to work out every 
desirable change. Every restriction that has the 
slightest tendency to impede the dissemination of 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 537 

useful information ought to be cast aside ; while no 
class of the community should be excluded from 
the blessings of knowledge. It is no less singular 
than true, that most of the moral writings of the 
ancients are rejected in our schools; while others, 
some of them most objectionable, are retained. 
Thus Seneca, Plato, Epictetus, or Antoninus, are 
hardly read ; yet many of their works might be 
perused with lasting advantage. Even in our 
own language, not to mention others, few read, 
or at least study, so as to make their own, the 
beautiful productions of a Cudworth, a Wollaston, 
a Derham, a Ray, a Paley, a Ferguson, a Smith, 
a Stewart, a Barbauld, or a Brown. The authors 
whom I have mentioned, are worthy of crowns of 
gold. Their names, and the names of all who 
have thus served mankind, should be held in grate- 
ful remembrance for ever ; while their works 
should be circulated and perpetuated to the ut- 
most. But it is not to the writings of such, that 
we should wholly trust. Moral and religious 
knowledge, with information relative to the works 
of God, ought to be communicated to all. Thus, the 
eternal principles of religion and morality would 
be disseminated, while the pure fountains of truth, 
freed from every admixture of gall and bitterness, 
would spread abroad their sweet and precious 
waters, to gladden and refresh — to instruct and 
to guide the hearts of all mankind. Why should 
teachers of moral science be confined to the walls 
of universities ; such knowledge is required for 
all the purposes of life? A frightful degree of 



538 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 

ignorance, which nothing short of the diffusion 
of moral and religious truth can dissipate, pervades 
the community. Until education be properly at- 
tended to, the politician and the philanthropist 
exert themselves in vain. It is easy to perceive 
that superior institutions cannot exist among 
an ignorant and depraved community. Any plan 
with regard to political renovation, which does 
not include the best form of instruction for all, 
must be impracticable, inasmuch as a vicious and 
ignorant multitude can neither comprehend nor 
carry it into execution . A few ardent and generous 
spirits cannot permanently inspire with their own 
glowing sentiments, the dull, the sensual, and the 
debased. Universal liberty is only compatible 
with universal knowledge and enlightenment. 
How is it possible indeed, to universalize just and 
free institutions, when the greater portion of every 
great community in the world, is plunged in phy- 
sical or moral destitution ? Some, in what might 
be termed the fanaticism of their liberality? over- 
look these facts, and would force a reformation 
for which they have not paved the way. Let us 
achieve it indeed, but let us include superior moral 
and mental culture, as well as a better provision 
for the material wants of all. The general dif- 
fusion of sound moral and religious knowledge, 
would terminate in the gradual introduction of 
every measure that was further calculated to pro- 
mote the well-being and happiness of mankind. 
No reform without this can be real, and all at- 
tempts to advance the one, should go hand in 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 539 

hand with those that are calculated to promote 
the other. It will thus be seen that violence can 
never be the leading instrument of human ame- 
lioration. Appeals to the sword indeed, are 
sometimes rendered necessary by unhappy con- 
tingencies; but when these have passed away, 
the same necessity still recurs for individual effort 
and social improvement. Moral and religious 
knowledge is destined to be the mighty agent for 
effecting a revolution in the fortunes of our race. 
Peacefully and quietly it works its way through 
the channels of opinion, banishing error, ignorance, 
oppression, and crime; and shall continue to 
spread with ever-enlarging circle, until at length, 
its gentle folds involve the family of mankind. 

IV. Existing regulations with regard to pro- 
perty, and the distribution of wealth ; are in many 
respects injurious to public well-being. The 
right to property should be sacred, and subject 
to the discretion of the individuals possessing it, 
or the public expression of their will. It never 
has been so however. In most countries vast 
sums are yearly abstracted, if not by open vio- 
lence, at least by tacit intimidation, and applied 
to purposes frequently bearing not even a remote 
reference to the public good. Superior moral 
and intellectual motives do not generally govern 
the distribution of wealth, and there are multi- 
tudes to whom its mere possession, independent 
of all use or rational enjoyment, is the highest 
pleasure. Now, so long as such a misconception 
as to the sources of human dignity takes place, bet- 



540 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 

ter arrangements with regard to the production and 
distribution of wealth, must remain difficult or im- 
practicable. Assuredly, the physical, as well as 
the moral condition of the great mass of man- 
kind, is deplorably imperfect ; before this can be 
altered however, prevailing ideas will require to 
be modified. The world fortunately, must go 
unceasingly onward, in the path which Provi- 
dence has assigned, fulfilling the blessed and 
happy destinies of our race. Again and again, 
it must be urged, that the adoration which wealth 
receives, should be transferred to knowledge and 
moral worth; the minds however, of the large 
majority of the existing generation, are so pre- 
occupied, that the change as regards them, is not 
to be expected. Nothing less than the cultiva- 
tion of the moral powers of all, from the earliest 
period, will suffice. Education indeed, must be 
the ultimate resort, and last best hope of every 
lover of his species. A few in advanced life, 
may be reclaimed from error, but the mind in 
youth adapts itself with perfect facility, to the 
reception of all impressions, which ever after, are 
retained with almost imperturbable firmness. 

V. If error is perpetuated by associating with 
those who are affected with it, how much more 
will the adherents of truth, be comforted and sup- 
ported by mixing with their fellows ? To dwell 
in the society, friendship, and esteem, of the wise 
and good, affords much of the purest and most 
unmixed happiness that life can yield. The su- 
perior capabilities should be cultivated from in- 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 541 

fancy, not in one sex, but in both — not in one 
class, but in all. There should be no monopoly 
of knowledge, any more than of the light of 
heaven; the one is not more necessary to the 
physical, than is the other to the moral man. 
Like all other monopolies, it counteracts its own 
purposes, inasmuch as information confined to 
the few, is infinitely less beneficial than if it were 
common to all. Education is the common right 
of all, and it is the bounden duty of society to see 
that all obtain it. The omission is a crime — a 
crime against the individual, and against huma- 
nity. At birth, the innocent babe cannot enforce 
its rights; arrived at adult age, ignorant, and 
perhaps depraved, the time for doing so has 
passed away. The infant man is dependent on 
others for the fulfilment of his claims; and assu- 
redly, it is a duty as incumbent on society to 
train up his soul to knowledge and virtue, as to 
maintain uninjured his physical existence. Oh, 
let not the soul dwindle and perish for the want 
of that precious culture which raises man to his 
highest dignity, nor contribute with a sparing 
and scanty hand, to the development of those 
noble qualities which elevate him to that admi- 
rable supremacy, of which his nature through 
the bounty of Providence, has been rendered 
capable. If so much is lost by the deficiency of 
intellectual, how much evil must accrue from the 
absence of moral culture? That the existing 
apparatus of instruction is insufficient for its pur- 
poses, let the daily register of human crime and 



542 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 

suffering declare. Something in addition, of 
greater efficacy must be resorted to ; and first, 
universal education, with moral and religious 
culture, day by day, and if it were possible, hour 
by hour. A single human being whose heart 
and understanding remain uncultivated, incurs 
the imminent risk of becoming an instrument of 
misery to himself and others. Is it too much to 
say that man cannot realize the happiness which 
it is in his power to achieve, short of the moral 
and intellectual development of every individual 
of his race ? For if any continue ignorant or 
vicious, the consequences must ramify over the 
whole of society. It is the immediate interest of 
all, that all should be happy, and that the intel- 
lectual and moral powers should be cultivated 
to the utmost. For if any omission on the part 
of society be productive of error or immorality, 
the consequences, by the inevitable retribution of 
nature, are felt by all. So much then, for the 
motives which are to inspire us with untiring 
energy in the task of renovating the condition of 
society. And let those — the wise and good of 
their day — those who so far as the better impul- 
ses of our nature are concerned, are the vice- 
gerents and the interpreters of Providence, do all 
that in them lies, to fulfil its dictates to the ut- 
most. Morality and religion are man's chief 
strength — his highest good — the things in fine, 
that minister to his greatest happiness ; and shall 
we then, leave anything undone that is calculated 
to advance them on earth? 



543 



CHAPTER XXXI1L 

ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE HEART AND MORAL 
POWERS HERE AND HEREAFTER. 



From the progressive improvement of the moral 
powers in this world, we necessarily infer the con- 
tinuance of the same process hereafter, accelerated 
however, by the unbounded facilities and un- 
ceasing employment of them, which shall then 
subsist. At the same time, the former is among 
the proofs of the existence of that hereafter, as 
well as of the mighty Being by whom all things 
are planned and ordered. Who can doubt that 
such admirable qualities as those with which we 
have been endowed, bear the impress of boundless 
skill? Great as is the devotion which the works 
of nature inspire, and unlimited as is our faith in 
their testimony, the beautiful and diversified pow- 
ers of the human mind, yield the highest and 
most superlative evidence. Even in this world, 
the progress of humanity is destined to be great 
and resplendent. It is impossible for the feelings, 
the moral judgments, and the intellectual powers, 
to go on realizing a continual progress, without 
inducing the happiest changes in the condition 
of mankind. In what else in truth, if not in this, 
does their real welfare consist ; and if they have 
been able to arrive at their present condition 



544 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE FEELINGS. 

from one of absolute ignorance, may we not with 
still greater certainty, anticipate a further, and 
more striking advance in coming times? As- 
suredly, the civilization which is not vested in 
the joint possession and universal cultivation of 
the excellencies and powers of our being, must be 
impermanent. If mental and moral culture, with 
physical excellence, be confined to the few, it 
cannot prosper, inasmuch as the only legitimate 
end of civilization, is that all should be moral, 
all intelligent, and all provided with the material 
comforts of life. No community however, whe- 
ther now, or in past ages, has realized these 
conditions. If we look to the ancients, we find 
partial civilization, tyranny, ignorance, super- 
stition, and slavery, a state of things which largely 
continues to the present day. Greece and Rome 
in which the few alone enjoyed opulence and 
mental culture, sank to the earth oppressed with 
slavery, ignorance, sensuality, and never-ceasing 
animosities. It will be difficult for modern na- 
tions to escape the risk of intestine convulsion, 
unless measures be taken to work that peaceful 
moral revolution, by which all shall come to en- 
joy their natural rights — universal moral and in- 
tellectual culture, and physical abundance. Out- 
raged humanity resents the infringement of her 
dues, by those hideous crimes and dreadful up- 
heavings, which ever and anon, characterize so- 
ciety, so improperly termed civilized. These are 
so many tokens of the retribution of nature- — so 
much fearful evidence that she has not been 



ON THE PERFECTABILITY OF THE HEART. 545 

treated as she ought. Were things on a proper 
basis, could such occurrences be: would it be 
possible to witness the daily commission of theft, 
violence, and the general prevalence of ignorance 
and immorality? If the public could once be 
convinced of the infinite importance of universal 
education, the powerful energies now squandered 
on matters of inferior moment, would take their 
proper direction, and this inestimable good be 
achieved for mankind. Sooner or later however, 
it must come to this; knowledge and moral cul- 
ture shall no longer be confined to the few, while 
truth, religion, and all excellence, shall spread 
over the earth like the light of the sun, redeeming 
the world from ignorance, misery, and sin. The 
enlightened and moral-minded must unremittingly 
exert themselves towards this great end; in time, 
their numbers will increase, and the good which 
they have sought to accomplish, will be realized. 
Truth will eventually be cultivated for its 
own sake, and the period must arrive in the 
annals of humanity, when knowledge and wisdom 
shall be persecuted no more. 

The purification and elevation of the feelings 
and affections, as well as our moral and intellectual 
advancement, are caused by means, the operation 
of which, though it may be retarded for a time, 
can never be wholly suspended or done away 
with. I do not here allude to the progress of this 
nation or of that, of one community or of another, 
but to that of the whole human family ; and this, 
not for a brief or passing period, but for one 

M M 



546 ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE HEART. 

commensurate with the existence of our race. A 
given people may advance or retrograde, but the 
species is ever progressive ; yet, to a moral cer- 
tainty, it would not be possible for a single people 
to go back, provided its civilization were of the 
right stamp. When sumptuous accommodation, 
luxurious food, lofty edifices, and rich attire, ex- 
tend only to the few, no wonder that the posses- 
sion should crumble into dust. Baalbec, Thebes, 
Persepolis, Carthage, and even Athens and Rome, 
are now no more ; but if the power which founded 
these great cities, had been directed to the culti- 
vation of equal happiness, their existence would 
have been enduring as their names. It is im- 
possible for any community possessed of ordinary 
physical resources, to be broken up, if the joint 
happiness and joint cultivation of the moral and 
intellectual powers of its members, be adequately 
attended to. On the other hand, mere material 
possessions will be insufficient to maintain national 
existence beyond a certain period. If the few 
who are endowed with superior energies — if a 
Phocion, an Aristides, a Brutus, a Cato, a 
Hampden, a Washington, or a Kosciusko, were 
able to effect so much by the mere stress of moral 
courage, what, within the boundary of possibilities, 
would be unattainable to a people composed of 
such ? Now, there is no reason why whole com- 
munities — ay, and the world entire, should not 
emulate the good qualities of these, and other brave 
and patriotic men. The lover of his kind hopes 
for the amelioration of all ; and however much he 



ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE HEART. 547 

may endeavour to promote the immediate well- 
being of those around, must feel that the general 
happiness is inseparably connected. 

The moral and intellectual, commensurately 
with the physical progress of mankind, is a slow 
but certain remedy for all the defects of their 
position. God's government is just : he would 
expose us to no evil, without at the same time, 
furnishing an adequate remedy. If our capabili- 
ties be not elicited, what can we expect to reap, 
but the consequences of our neglect? The re- 
ward, whether it reside in corporeal well-being, 
intellectual, or moral excellence, must be wrought 
for before it can be won. However painful the 
process, the end is sweet — in a word, if we will 
not endure the cross, neither shall we wear the 
crown. The labour and toil of exertion, however, 
are allayed by the consideration of the object ; 
but what is to alleviate ignorance, sin, and error, 
with all their direful consequences? We are 
subject to few physical, and to no moral evils, 
that may not be removed if we will. Even the 
former are not without their mitigation ; while the 
enlightened and virtuous man is always able to 
find support and refuge against unavoidable ills, 
in his resignation to the will of a just and merci- 
ful God. To subject us to gratuitous and need- 
less misery, is a supposition at once so monstrous, 
and so totally opposed to all that we are able to 
conceive of the attributes of the Deity, as hardly 
to demand the consideration of any rational mind. 
There is no evil from which mankind, whether indi- 
vidually or collectively, may not free themselves, 



548 ON THE PERFECTABILITY OF THE HEART. 

if they will but exert those precious energies which 
have been given them whereby to secure their 
happiness. Their present condition, from the 
long continuance of error, ignorance, superstition, 
and misrule — in a word, from the insufficient cul- 
tivation of their actual capabilities, is such, that 
it will require the efforts of successive generations, 
all co-operating in the best direction, to raise their 
position to the height which it should occupy. 
There is no immediate prospect however, of these 
being fully made — meanwhile, it is out of the 
power of individuals, or even of nations, to re- 
medy defects that might otherwise be set aside. 
Of necessity then, there will be much to encoun- 
ter — much scope for resolution, fortitude, and 
forbearance. Still, the inward satisfaction ac- 
cruing from what is right, will always alleviate, 
and often compensate inflictions that may not be 
wholly foregone. There are occurrences how- 
ever, which no alteration in the state of society 
can entirely obviate ; among these are diseases, 
and more especially, death. The frequency of 
the former indeed, may be immeasurably dimin- 
ished, but death will still ensue. If, however, we 
examine this phenomenon so long enveloped in 
the drapery of the grave, we find no cause for 
dread. A change, which under the ordination 
of Providence, removes us from an inferior to a 
superior condition of existence, which illimitably 
enlarges the scope of our faculties, and which 
brings us from time to eternity, can be no evil, 
as in truth it is not. 

It is just to conclude, that as our actual con- 



ON THE PERFECTABILITY OF THE HEART. 54 ( J 

duct influences our condition on earth, it must 
continue to do so hereafter ; though, to what ex- 
tent, the curtain impenetrable to mortal eyes, 
renders it impossible to know. It is obvious, 
however, that the relations of a virtuous and in- 
telligent human being, with the wise and happy 
spirits of another world, and the various objects 
of instruction and delight which it will unfold, 
must be very different from those of a perverse 
and ignorant one. Nevertheless, the Deity is 
merciful and good; and seeing the influence of 
circumstances for good and for ill, we may ven- 
ture to hope and to believe that some remedial 
process may be instituted, whereby all shall 
eventually be enabled to assume a higher and a 
better place. In the world to come, physical en- 
joyments, and physical temptations, at the expense 
of our own well-being or that of others, will cease, 
and moral causes come solely into operation. 
Such a state of things must act powerfully in behalf 
of spiritual amelioration : and if we consider the 
unlimited duration of eternity, and the momen- 
tary continuance of earthly life, it affords grounds 
for the presumption that the measureless facilities 
which exist in the former, must sooner or later, 
work their natural result, in the mental and moral 
purification of all who shall come in contact with 
them. Still, the inference holds good, that our 
feelings, ideas, and actions, during our mortal ex- 
istence, must powerfully modify our condition 
hereafter; while at the same time, it yields fresh 
incentives for the cultivation of that excellence, 



550 ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE HEART. 

to which it is at once, the highest felicity, and 
greatest glory of humanity, successfully to aspire. 
Our material organs are a scaffolding for the 
gradual spiritualization of the heart and moral 
powers. That they are so, no one who has paid 
sufficient attention to our nature and constitution, 
can for a moment doubt. The body indeed, is a 
garment for the soul, and when its purposes are 
accomplished, being worn out or destroyed, is 
cast aside. Through its instrumentality, we are 
made acquainted with the bright and glowing 
scenes of creation ; with the face of human kind, 
and with the material evidence of Almighty power. 
The mind by its means, receives the seeds of 
knowledge, and is imbued with moral and reli- 
gious truth, with human affections, and with the 
love of God. Every arrangement connected with 
it, discovers boundless wisdom and power. In 
the first period of life, everything is sensual; 
nothing is felt save the impulses which relate to 
animal preservation. The gratification of these, 
proves the source of various pleasures, which, 
through the wonderful agency of association, give 
rise to different affections. These, in their turn, 
by the further continuance of the same process, 
become more or less disinterested; and as they 
relate to our parents, our children, our brethren, 
our countrymen, and the family of mankind, are 
reciprocally enhanced, and coalescing together, 
become the origin of the highest and purest of all 
affections — the love of God. Their habitual 
exercise and the steady performance of moral 



ON THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE HEART. 551 

duty, gradually associate them with every acces- 
sary object. Thus, the love of duty is formed 
and strengthened, until at length, its permanence 
is secured without any reference to immediate 
advantages, perhaps indeed, with the risk, if not 
the certainty, of material loss and mental suf- 
fering. As life advances, the intellect expands, 
the judgment becomes clearer, and less liable to be 
obscured by the mists of passion and prejudice, 
while the affections are more extended. Indivi- 
dual objects of love and tenderness are succes- 
sively taken away, while animal pleasures and 
propensities almost wholly cease, and give place 
to moral habits, feelings, and pursuits. To a pro- 
perly constituted mind, the vicissitudes, the mis- 
fortunes, and the joys of life, afford ample scope 
for reflection and improvement. Thus, sickness 
as occurring in ourselves or others, and the 
general aspect of human mortality, are eminently 
calculated to impress our minds and hearts, with 
a deep conviction of the fugitive and uncertain 
tenure of earthly existence, and the necessity of 
directing our attention to the one and only source of 
all things — our only hope and comfort — the all- wise 
and immutable God. Our love for humanity in the 
aggregate, will increase, while that towards indi- 
viduals will slacken and decay ; for we can no longer 
love any, as we have loved our early and dearly 
cherished friends — our children, parents, hus- 
bands, wives, brothers, and sisters. Such precious 
relations can here, be reproduced no more, and 
thus, our hearts come to long for the happy term 



552 ON THE PERFECTABILITY OF THE HEART. 

which is to enable us to enjoy them again, in the 
boundless regions of eternity. There, we shall 
meet the friends whom we have loved on earth, 
and from whom no second death can sepa- 
rate us. Thus, our thoughts and our feelings 
become gradually spiritualized, purified, and ex- 
alted, and we come to put our only trust and de- 
pendance in the Author of life. It behoves us 
indeed, to think often of those other scenes, to 
which all must finally repair — not with fear or 
apprehension, but with tranquillity and joy; as a 
home and as a final resting-place, prepared for us 
by the great Father of all ; and to look forward to 
them with the utmost energies of our souls ; so that 
living or dying, we may enjoy the approbation of 
our hearts, and the blessed consciousness that we 
had lived as became beings placed in a flitting 
state of existence, to prepare for a higher and 
more exalted sphere, in another and more per- 
manent world. 



553 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 



Our positive knowledge of futurity, so far as de- 
tails are concerned, is glimmering and uncertain ; 
not so however, as to the general scope and in- 
tentions of Providence. Any minute or specific 
information would turn us from that attention to 
worldly affairs, which our earthly welfare de- 
mands ; but to have excluded it altogether, would 
have been adverse to that superior moral con- 
duct, which the hope of an hereafter alone can 
inspire. At the same time, this hope is only to 
be generated by the active cultivation of heart 
and understanding ; for without the latter to 
direct, and the former to urge, it cannot be. The 
prescience of moral, rests upon a basis equally 
stable with that of physical events : the facts vary, 
but the results are no less certain. If indeed, 
there be any difference, it is that moral events 
regarded as future, are the more certain of the 
two. Worlds may pass away and be no more, 
but moral truth, and the relations of spiritual 
existences, must remain inviolate. In the phy- 
sical sciences — astronomy for example, we deter- 
mine occurrences hundreds or thousands of years 
in advance. With regard to moral science, the 
phenomena upon which we reason, are of a dif- 



554 ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 

ferent order — in the one case, they relate to the 
world without, in the other to that within; but 
they are equally under the regulation of their 
respective laws. The changes of the inner world, 
in all the range of its wide domain, are subject 
to the same order as those of the outer, of which 
our sensations are the register and the index. 
Human experience demonstrates in the most 
striking manner, the moral attributes of the 
Deity ; the conviction of their existence and con- 
tinuance is irrefragable. God cannot cease to 
be supremely wise and good; and we must feel an 
unswerving certainty, whether as regards this 
state of being or the next, that we shall enjoy the 
same enlightened and paternal care, and equal 
manifestations of Almighty power. It is altoge- 
ther impossible, wherever we may be, that the 
Deity can act otherwise than in the manner that 
shall most redound to our eventual happiness and 
improvement. We cannot inspect the arrange- 
ments which are prepared for us, but we may feel 
assured that they are the best that boundless wis- 
dom and love could devise : for are we not created 
by God's own hand, and shall he not do what is 
just and right by us ? He cannot have the faintest 
interest or motive to make us — his children and 
his creatures, unhappy, whether in time or in 
eternity ; but every conceivable inducement to the 
contrary. We can determine nothing, except in 
so far as it is conformable to the will of God, as 
manifested in his providence, and to legitimate 
inferences from his ascertainable attributes. So 



ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 555 

long as we confine ourselves to this, human rea- 
son — itself a Divine gift, and intended to be made 
use of, maintains its just position, while its con- 
clusions on moral, are no less worthy of attention 
than those on other subjects. It is impossible 
that the universal aspirations of the great, the 
good, and the wise, can be destitute of foundation. 
The noble qualities of the heart and understand- 
ing were given to instruct, and not to deceive; 
and when we find the desires and the wishes of 
mankind to centre in one common object — the 
hope and belief of a happy immortality, we can- 
not for a moment suppose, that it is otherwise 
than the sure and certain anticipation of so pre- 
cious a reversion. For the wishes of the wise 
and good, whether they regard the world in which 
we live, or that to which we aspire, must ever in- 
volve what is desirable; and therefore as such, 
and further, as the possible expression however 
imperfect, of the will and intentions of the Deity, 
we may infer the highest probability, if not the 
entire certainty of their accomplishment. 

Our ignorance and the want of reflection, have 
invested the transition to which we give the name 
of death, with needless terrors. That these are 
not universal must be freely admitted, but then 
they are little less so, else why the dusky pall, 
the gnawing worm, the decaying relics of mor- 
talitv, and the other images of desolation and 
dread, that we are wont to associate with it. The 
body must indeed perish, but the soul lives ; then, 
why dwell upon the useful and necessary processes 



556 ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 

of the one, when the precious realities of the other 
await our attention? If indeed, the immortal 
spirit descended into the tomb, and were chained 
to corruption and decay, or participated in them, 
we might mourn, but it is far otherwise. The 
materials of our frames serve a long succession of 
animated being, after our earthly tenure has been 
yielded up ; but the soul wings its way to other re- 
gions, no more to be connected with the fleeting 
combinations of matter. Then, why tie down our 
thoughts and feelings thus, when the prospect of 
everlasting life is opened out to us ? We cannot 
but bitterly grieve when severed from the objects 
of our affection ; but they have not indeed pe- 
rished, but have entered upon a new life, which is 
to have no end. This is a consideration which 
lulls the sting of sorrow, and blunts the barbed 
arrow which jjierces the soul. What would we 
have — would we live on in this world for ever, im- 
mersed in the narrow circle of mortality, perhaps 
the prey to numberless evils — incurable, because 
without end? Would we exclude from the scene 
of life, the long series of coming generations full 
of activity and joy, all sent to prepare like our- 
selves, for a higher and more exalted sphere? 
And would we debar ourselves and them, from 
the expanding existence, the glowing delights, 
and the extended sphere of duties which are in- 
volved in a futurity ? No, let us ever be pre- 
pared, and in cheerful anticipation of the change ; 
let us connect it with happy images, and look 
upon it, not as the avenue to darkness and gloom, 



ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 557 

but as one to the regions of hope and joy. We 
do not die, but are born to a new life : we shake 
off the heavy impediments of matter which clog 
our souls, and enter upon other and more glorious 
relations, not only with the spiritual, but probably 
with the material universe ; and we part with an 
instrument, beautiful, if we consider its peculiar 
and comparatively inferior purposes, but every 
way incapable of ministering to the wants of an 
everlasting spirit. A perpetuity of earthly ex- 
istence, ever associated with the same objects, and 
with a limited scope for improvement, would be 
dull and vapid, contrasted with the unlimited 
range, and the boundlessly diversified occupa- 
tions of a world to come. Incorrect concep- 
tions indeed, as to our condition hereafter, 
must necessarily invest it with an aspect widely 
different from the reality ; but it may be safely 
asserted, that any which do not include the 
progressive improvement and final happiness 
of all God's creatures, are at variance with the 
clearest dictates of Divine providence, and un- 
worthy of beings whose belief should be in full 
accordance with the glorious future to which we 
all aspire. Death is the portal to the blessed 
realms of immortality — the opening to light and 
life, to peace and joy, not less than to endless 
moral and intellectual advancement. We should 
look to, and welcome it, as our last best refuge ; 
as removing the only obstacle to the happiness 
and improvement of which we have been ren- 
dered capable, and as placing an insuperable bar- 



558 ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 

rier between us and all oppression, misery, 
and sin. 

It is doubtless, impossible for a limited crea- 
ture like man, to conceive the details of the 
spiritual world. We can only frame general con- 
clusions, which if not enough to satisfy our long- 
ings, prove at least sufficient to excite hope and 
joy. We may be assured that nothing can occur 
hereafter, in opposition to what we are able to 
learn here, of the providence and attributes of 
the Deity. God cannot contradict himself — he 
cannot cease to be beneficent, merciful, just, and 
wise. This alone, is adequate to allay every dis- 
quietude, and to console us under the pangs of 
sickness, and in the prospect of immediate death. 
We are enabled however, to experience the fur- 
ther assurance, that those qualities of the heart 
and understanding, the exercise and improvement 
of which redound so much to our happiness here, 
will continue to do so, to a still greater extent 
hereafter. A capacity for developing them, has 
not been bestowed in vain ; and the virtues and 
the talents which we have nurtured with so much 
care and assiduity, will survive the dissolution of 
the mortal fabric, to expand still farther, in a 
more extended sphere of action. Our conscious- 
ness will persist after death as now, with the 
feelings, the affections, and the ideas, which we 
experience at present, but exalted, purified, and 
perfected. We cannot know through what in- 
strumentality, our perceptions will take place; 
but however diversified, they will doubtless not 



ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 559 

derange our identity, or produce any other than 
a gradual accession to our feelings and informa- 
tion. Then, as now, there will be the same 
necessity for exertion, and for regulating our~con- 
duct by the objects which we may have in view. 
The results however, will be greater than on 
earth, since our faculties will be less limited, and 
the range less bounded for their exercise. Nor 
is it perhaps too much to hope, that our progress 
sive advancement in feeling and intellect, and our 
ascent among the different orders of created in- 
telligence, will be directly contingent on our indi- 
vidual efforts. Now, the improvement of our 
intellect and affections, must be boundless as time 
and creation themselves. 

There is much reason for arriving at the con- 
clusion, that the phenomenal world — our earth, 
with the endless galaxies of mighty orbs, and their 
diversified inhabitants, is infinitely inferior in ex- 
tent and importance to the spiritual, which we 
cannot see, unless in so far as our inward con- 
sciousness yields us fugitive and uncertain glimpses 
of it. A comparison between things dissimilar, 
is made with difficulty ; but though imperfect, it 
often serves to place the objects of it in a some- 
what stronger light. Yet, when we reflect 
upon the multitudinous, and perhaps never- 
ending distribution of the stars, and think that 
each like our own, is a nursery for immortal in- 
telligences ; that it has been so, and will be so, 
to an extent which we are utterly unable to ap- 
preciate : when we further reflect that this may 



560 ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 

not be the sole means to which the Deity has re- 
sorted for adding to the denizens of the spiritual 
universe; and when we add to these, not only 
that space is unlimited, but that it can oppose no 
obstacle to the increase of thinking beings, with 
the same mighty rapidity, and for ever, it over- 
whelms the soul with unutterable emotions. 
How the communication will be kept up between 
the creatures thus variously produced, we cannot 
imagine, nor is it necessary to inquire; doubt- 
less, the all-powerful Author of their existence, 
has regulated this with the same consummate 
wisdom which he everywhere displays. The 
common bond would seem to be one of intellect 
and feeling, and must necessarily, though to a 
widely varying degree, extend to all. In this 
world we are under a physical, as well as an in- 
tellectual and moral obligation; in the next, we 
shall be included under one which can have no 
boundary save that between right and wrong. 
Whether any delegated agencies shall subsist, it is 
impossible to know; that it should be so how- 
ever, is not unreasonable to suppose. If so, we 
may feel assured that it is exclusively for good. 
The production of gratuitous evil in the world to 
come, any more than in this, is a supposition 
which is adverse to all that we are able to con- 
ceive, of boundless wisdom and power, as well as 
to the precious conclusion at which al] things 
point — that every created being shall eventually 
go forward in a perpetual career of improvement. 
This is altogether irreconcilable with the possi- 



ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 561 

bility of permanent misery or sin — conditions not 
less opposed to feeling and reason, than to the 
visible manifestations of Divine goodness. Here- 
after, as now, the highest motives to conduct will 
be grounded on moral truth, of which the only 
just criterion must be the will of God. Doubt- 
less also, we shall be thrown in a greater or less 
degree, on our own guidance, and permitted as 
at present, to reap the satisfaction accruing from 
our own approval and that of others. But what 
pen can adequately enlarge on the ravishing 
hope, the glorious expectation of a future — an 
eternal existence ? To live for ever — to increase 
unceasingly in knowledge and excellence, and to 
maintain perpetual communion with wisdom and 
goodness, as much transcend the powers of man 
to imagine, as immortality itself transcends mor- 
tality. Doubtless, sources of happiness await 
us, of which in our present state of being, we can 
form little conception : wonders, as much unlike any 
thing which we now behold, as the particulars com- 
prehended under the latter differ from each other. 
This likewise enhances the expectation ; for if we 
can picture to ourselves so much that is good and 
desirable, what must the reality prove? What 
infinite delight will there be in surveying the 
boundless scenes of creation, and in investigating 
the sources of our knowledge, and the nature of 
our faculties? But these are things as to which 
we can have no certain knowledge. Some will 
go further than others; while not a few will 
look upon all conjectures respecting scenes so 

N N 



562 ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 

remote, as visionary and absurd. The opinion 
of those however, who are so unhappy as to dis- 
believe or doubt on the subject of futurity, can 
be no criterion; and assuredly, with the well- 
founded conviction that we shall take our facul- 
ties and our knowledge along with us, it cannot 
be improper to speculate in reason, on the con- 
dition in which these may find exercise. It is 
a source of innocent gratification to think upon 
the state of our departed friends, before we 
rejoin them for ever. And when about to quit 
this world, it affords joy and satisfaction to those 
whom we leave behind, to hear us testify our 
hopes and our assurances as to the future. Were 
this more frequently done, it would strengthen 
our convictions, and confirm our principles. Cer- 
tainly, the tacit consent with which all mention 
of death, and of the dead, is avoided, implies any 
thing but that rational security, and tender hope, 
with which we should regard futurity. Let us then 
be men — let us raise our hearts and souls with im- 
plicit reverence and unbounded trust, towards the 
Master of life — to Him who is Lord both of the 
living and the dead, and alike the wise, the just, and 
the merciful Arbiter of every form of existence. 
As a just, enlightened, and affectionate inter- 
course with others, is among the highest pleasures 
of this world; so doubtless, in that which is to 
come, much of our happiness will flow from an 
unceasing communion with the wise and good. 
It is not to be supposed that this will be limited 
to those who inhabited the earth with us; it is 
probable, nay certain, that it will extend to every 



ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 563 

order of created intelligence. Thus, there will 
be a scene of improvement — objects of imitation, 
admiration, and love, to an extent of which even 
our feeble anticipations are adequate to inspire us 
with rapture and joy. Nothing short of actual 
fruition however, can yield us any sufficient con- 
ception of that glorious condition to which it is 
the solace of humanity to aspire. That it will 
be in all respects, worthy of its Supreme Author, 
we cannot doubt, and upon this blessed convic- 
tion let us take our stand. It is indeed true, 
that no gratification is so great as that which 
accrues from the society of our kind, but then, 
to enjoy this to the fullest extent, we must have 
performed our duties — we must be virtuous, we 
must be intelligent, we must be wise. In the 
world to come, it is not irrational to expect a 
condition of things in some respects analogous, 
and that the satisfaction arising from elevated in- 
tercourse, will be contingent on the assiduity 
with which our faculties are cultivated, and our 
tasks fulfilled. How great then, will be the hap- 
piness of maintaining perpetual communion with 
superior beings; of growing in knowledge and 
excellence, and of having our souls continually 
uplifted to purer and higher conceptions, of the 
infinite wisdom and goodness of God? But our 
communication with others will not be restricted 
to the interchange of ideas, but shall extend to 
that of the feelings and affections. And if our 
short career on earth is adequate to the produc- 
tion of so much pleasure from this source, what 
may we not expect from the boundless facilities, 



564 ON OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 

and unlimited duration of an hereafter? This 
indeed, is what no human eye has seen, what no 
human tongue can tell. We pierce but dimly 
into the mighty vista of futurity ; but we perceive 
enough to raise our hearts with gushing praise 
and boundless love to the only Source of life — to 
whom we owe our being, our happiness, our earthly 
comfort, our present joys and hopes of future. 



The third and last part of this work is now 
complete. I have endeavoured to paint the 
mind ; to shew the origin of our moral judgments, 
feelings, and affections; to depict the excellen- 
cies of which we are capable, and the defects to 
which we are liable; to analyze the changes 
which the various conditions of our being un- 
dergo, and the laws by which they are re- 
gulated: likewise, the influence of the heart on 
the understanding, our various duties, and the 
best means of advancing the moral welfare of 
mankind ; and lastly, the progressive perfectibility 
of our nature, our condition hereafter, and our 
hopes of attaining to it. I have everywhere in- 
sisted on the obligations of religion and morality ; 
on man's duties to himself, to his fellows, and to his 
Creator ; and to the best of my ability, have fulfilled 
the three-fold intention of this work — the analysis 
and detail of our physical, intellectual, and moral 
constitution, and now conclude the task. That it 
may be of some use to my fellows — that it may ser ve, 
however feebly, to promote the cause of truth — of 
humanity, is my earnest, my only wish. 



ERRATA. 



Page 28, 


line 8, for 2, read 3. 


- 38, 


— 27, for stints, read stunts. 


— 75, 


— 18, before go, insert will. 


— 77, 


— 21, for are, read is. 


— 123, 


— 5, for education, read recreation. 


— 139, 


— 20, insert VI. 


— 145, 


— 1, for has, read have. 


— 204, 


— 6, for zeal, read real. 


— 261, 


— 30, for 3, read 4. 


— 264, 


— 15, for 4, read 5. 


— 337, 


— 14, for I., read IV. 


— 379, 


— 14, insert II., and alter seriatim. 


— 392, 


— 27, for abrogation, read abnegation 


— 492, 


— 24, dele III. 


— 539, 


— 9, for II., read III. 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 

An Exposition of the Nature, Treatment, and Prevention 
of Continued Fever, pp. 202. London: 1835. 



Our readers will perceive what pains Dr. M'Cormac has 
bestowed upon his subject, and what learning he has brought 
to bear upon every thing connected with fever. We beg to 
recommend his work in the strongest terms. — Dublin Medi- 
cal Journal. 

Doctor M'Cormac's work will be perused with great inte- 
rest and advantage, in so far as he illustrates, with great learn- 
ing and ability, the observations and experience of all the 
most eminent pyretologists, ancient and modern, foreign and 
domestic. Dr. M'Cormac indeed, possesses the advantage 
of personal experience, not only of the ordinary form of fever 
in these countries, by his position as Physician to the Fever 
Hospital of Belfast, but of the more rapid and formidable 
variety of disease prevalent in Africa, and other tropical 
countries. Minute and practical acquaintance with the pyre- 
tological authors, not only of France, but of Italy and Ger- 
many, has enabled him to illustrate his subject with a degree 
of literary information, not very common in this country. 

The author gives a clear and instructive statement of the 
remedies most likely to prove beneficial in conducting fever 
to a beneficial termination ; also, a very instructive summary 
of the rules most likely to prevent the rise and propagation 
of this disease — Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal. 

We strongly recommend Dr. M'Cormac's book, as an elabo- 
rate and judicious review of facts and opinions, and withal a 
philosophical and practically useful treatise on the subject of 
fever. — Medical Quarterly. 



It is really astonishing that the author could have condensed 
such a fund of information within so small a compass. As a 
compilation, this work is unequalled in our literature, and well 
deserves a place in every medical library. — London Medical 
and Surgical Journal, 

A very useful and interesting article might be formed by 
a reviewer from this book, by simply taking from it, and as- 
sembling in a compact form, the personal observations, and 
previously unrecorded facts, which the author has scattered 
through his pages, as the result of his own experience. We 
commend the work to the profession, as an excellent expo- 
sition of that species of bodily derangement which is known 
by the name of Continued Fever. It is a long time since we 
have met with a writer whose experience, learning, and judg- 
ment, so well entitle him to discuss this hacknied subject, 
and whose literary abilities have so ably served him in the 
task — Lancet. 



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